Privacy and Surveillance

Ever had that creepy feeling someone's watching you online? Now imagine if that feeling was actually your reality, not just your browsing history being tracked, but cameras following your every move on the street, your conversations being monitored, your payments scrutinized. For our guest Josh Summers, this wasn't some dystopian nightmare, it was his daily life.

Josh isn't your typical privacy advocate. As the creator behind All Things Secured (both a website and YouTube channel), his passion for digital privacy was forged through nearly 20 years living abroad, much of it in China. There, he didn't just read about surveillance, he lived under its shadow, using VPNs to bypass censorship and experiencing the gut-wrenching moment of being detained and questioned by Chinese authorities.

In our revealing conversation, Josh pulls back the curtain on what government surveillance actually feels like from the inside. He shares how these experiences transformed a personal survival strategy into a mission to help others protect themselves in our increasingly watched world.

We dive into how surveillance actually works from those eerily accurate facial recognition systems to the GPS tracking that follows your every move, and the countless ways big companies turn your personal information into profit. Josh not only makes us aware of potential problems, he offers real-world solutions that balance security with the convenience we all crave.

With Josh's guidance, we discover surprisingly simple ways to shield our digital lives from encrypted messaging apps that keep conversations private, virtual credit cards that protect your finances, and alternative mailing addresses that safeguard your physical location. He also reveals the hidden dangers lurking in those so-called smart devices scattered throughout your home, and explains why privacy matters even if you think you have nothing to hide.

Show Notes:

• [00:34] Josh is the host of All Things Secured. He wants to help people become a hacker's worst nightmare.
• [01:30] Josh, his wife, and children lived in China. There was censorship and social platforms were blocked. 
• [02:05] He began using VPNs. Over the decade there, every type of surveillance was used.
• [03:34] He had a travel site and walked around with a camera.
• [04:03] In 2018 he was detained by the government. It was scary and he realized the rights he was giving up when traveling to other countries.
• [05:53] He was kicked out of China, and became more conscious of the pervasive mass surveillance.
• [08:40] He was severely outmatched with the psychological tricks of the interrogators.
• [12:57] Even if surveillance is legal, that doesn't make it ethical. 
• [13:18] Small consistent steps towards privacy will make us less of a target.
• [14:25] Josh talks about ways that we are being monitored from cameras to facial recognition. Digital currencies track what we purchase.
• [17:04] Facebook has so many files on us. Being tracked online adds up.
• [21:07] There are ways to build a privacy moat around your digital life and still stay in contact with friends and family.
• [22:27] Steps for practical privacy include being careful about how you share data, encrypted alternatives, and use masking services to reduce your digital footprint. You can also use virtual credit cards.
• [31:46] We talk about using peer-to-peer payment