The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy, 2nd Edition (Paperback)
The whirlwind of social media, online dating, and mobile apps can make life a dream--or a nightmare. For every trustworthy website, there are countless jerks, bullies, and scam artists who want to harvest your personal information for their own purposes. But you can fight back, right now.
In the second edition of the best-selling The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy, award-winning author and investigative journalist Violet Blue shows you how women are targeted online and how to keep yourself safe. This updated edition includes increased emphasis on mobile apps and social media, updated links and other resources for researching data breaches, instructions on how to configure privacy settings, how to get help if you're attacked, and a wealth of useful tips about how to leverage more recent security innovations, such as two-factor authentication.
Violet Blue's practical, user-friendly advice will teach you how to:
• Delete personal content from websites
• Use website and browser privacy controls effectively
• Recover from and prevent identity theft
• Figure out where the law protects you--and where it doesn't
• Set up safe online profiles
• Remove yourself from people-finder websites
• Configure your phone's privacy settings
• Safely navigate dating apps
Even if your privacy has already been compromised, don't panic. It's not too late to take control. The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy will help you cut through the confusion and start protecting your online life.
In the second edition of the best-selling The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy, award-winning author and investigative journalist Violet Blue shows you how women are targeted online and how to keep yourself safe. This updated edition includes increased emphasis on mobile apps and social media, updated links and other resources for researching data breaches, instructions on how to configure privacy settings, how to get help if you're attacked, and a wealth of useful tips about how to leverage more recent security innovations, such as two-factor authentication.
Violet Blue's practical, user-friendly advice will teach you how to:
• Delete personal content from websites
• Use website and browser privacy controls effectively
• Recover from and prevent identity theft
• Figure out where the law protects you--and where it doesn't
• Set up safe online profiles
• Remove yourself from people-finder websites
• Configure your phone's privacy settings
• Safely navigate dating apps
Even if your privacy has already been compromised, don't panic. It's not too late to take control. The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy will help you cut through the confusion and start protecting your online life.
Violet Blue is an investigative tech reporter for ZDNet, CNET, Engadget, and CBS News, an award-winning sex writer and columnist, a member of the Internet Press Guild and an advisor for Without My Consent. She maintains a sexuality blog at tinynibbles.com and can be found on Twitter, @violetblue.
Praise for the first edition of The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy
“An illuminating handbook for women.”
—ELLE Magazine
“The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy is a straight-forward how-to for protecting your privacy and undermining the social media settings that want you to share potentially intimate details with the world...I found the book alarmingly handy.”
—Bitch Magazine
“For girls and women in the technological age, this guide to Internet safety is a must-read. It’s a young woman’s invaluable guide to empowerment, addressing not only the why of keeping strong boundaries but the how.”
—Foreword Reviews
“Violet Blue is not just a writer and journalist; she’s also a friend and advocate to every female* who has a computer or smart phone...This book is highly recommended for public and school libraries, as well as social science and technology classes.”
—Becky Walton, Ingram Collection Development Librarian
*When she uses the term “female,” Violet inclusively means a woman of all shades on the gender identity spectrum.
The Advocate names The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy one of the Best Books You Missed in 2015. "A no-nonsense, simple-to-follow formula. Smart stuff.
"One of the best resources for learning to protect your online communications is Violet Blue’s The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy. The book is relevant for both men and women who want to strengthen their cybersecurity and online privacy."
—Joe Kukura, SF Weekly
“Women face unique threats and have to deal with safety and privacy issues that few–if any–men will ever even be aware of, much less concerned about. Violet Blue does an excellent job of describing what those issues are and providing simple, actionable advice to help readers stay safe online.”
—Tony Bradley, techspective
“In this must-read for anyone who uses their laptop or phone to go online, Blue details the numerous ways women and LGBT people especially face security risks . . . including identity theft, revenge porn, stalking, and all manner of scams.”
—DAME Magazine
“It’s up to each one of us to protect our own privacy, and The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy is a crucial weapon in that fight.”
—Book Riot
“This valuable guide is one that everyone should read.”
—Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) Magazine
“The internet can be both an exciting and a scary place, so consider going through The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy with your parents when you’re ready to start exploring widely.”
—New Moon Girls
“The Smart Girl's Guide To Privacy is ‘the talk’ 2.0 that all girls need. Heck, everybody needs this book. We all want our privacy, the majority just don’t realize how much we have already lost on that front.”
—404 Tech Support
“A smart, engaging read that's also super useful.”
—SFist
“The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy is specifically geared toward women and other vulnerable members of the online population who need guidance navigating the murky, often treacherous waters of the Internet.”
—The Daily Dot
“A must-read for women of all ages.”
—ChicagoNow
“A must-read for anyone.”
—GeekMom
“An illuminating handbook for women.”
—ELLE Magazine
“The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy is a straight-forward how-to for protecting your privacy and undermining the social media settings that want you to share potentially intimate details with the world...I found the book alarmingly handy.”
—Bitch Magazine
“For girls and women in the technological age, this guide to Internet safety is a must-read. It’s a young woman’s invaluable guide to empowerment, addressing not only the why of keeping strong boundaries but the how.”
—Foreword Reviews
“Violet Blue is not just a writer and journalist; she’s also a friend and advocate to every female* who has a computer or smart phone...This book is highly recommended for public and school libraries, as well as social science and technology classes.”
—Becky Walton, Ingram Collection Development Librarian
*When she uses the term “female,” Violet inclusively means a woman of all shades on the gender identity spectrum.
The Advocate names The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy one of the Best Books You Missed in 2015. "A no-nonsense, simple-to-follow formula. Smart stuff.
"One of the best resources for learning to protect your online communications is Violet Blue’s The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy. The book is relevant for both men and women who want to strengthen their cybersecurity and online privacy."
—Joe Kukura, SF Weekly
“Women face unique threats and have to deal with safety and privacy issues that few–if any–men will ever even be aware of, much less concerned about. Violet Blue does an excellent job of describing what those issues are and providing simple, actionable advice to help readers stay safe online.”
—Tony Bradley, techspective
“In this must-read for anyone who uses their laptop or phone to go online, Blue details the numerous ways women and LGBT people especially face security risks . . . including identity theft, revenge porn, stalking, and all manner of scams.”
—DAME Magazine
“It’s up to each one of us to protect our own privacy, and The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy is a crucial weapon in that fight.”
—Book Riot
“This valuable guide is one that everyone should read.”
—Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) Magazine
“The internet can be both an exciting and a scary place, so consider going through The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy with your parents when you’re ready to start exploring widely.”
—New Moon Girls
“The Smart Girl's Guide To Privacy is ‘the talk’ 2.0 that all girls need. Heck, everybody needs this book. We all want our privacy, the majority just don’t realize how much we have already lost on that front.”
—404 Tech Support
“A smart, engaging read that's also super useful.”
—SFist
“The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy is specifically geared toward women and other vulnerable members of the online population who need guidance navigating the murky, often treacherous waters of the Internet.”
—The Daily Dot
“A must-read for women of all ages.”
—ChicagoNow
“A must-read for anyone.”
—GeekMom