Note that you can manually turn off these extensions for websites with features that work only with ad tracking allowed, a feature generally not available with VPN apps. We have some favorites, including the EFF’s Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin, both of which minimize tracking from websites and online ad networks as well as security vulnerabilities. If you are choosing to use a VPN to avoid being tracked online across various ad networks, some browser extensions can be helpful.

(iOS and newer Android devices are automatically encrypted, if you have an effective passcode.)

Encrypt your laptop, in case you lose it or someone steals it.

It’s preferable to use an app or a security key, rather than SMS (plain text messages), as your second factor.

Enable multi-factor authentication, a security feature you can find at most major sites, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

If you reuse passwords and one of your accounts is compromised, others can be too.

Use a password manager to create and manage secure, unique passwords for all of your accounts.

We also touched base with blockchain privacy expert and Clovyr co-founder Amber Baldet, to discuss the privacy advantages and pitfalls to consider when paying for a VPN with cryptocurrency. We discussed what to look for-and avoid-in VPNs with Kenneth White, security researcher and co-director of the Open Crypto Audit Project, and Matthew Green, cryptographer and Johns Hopkins University professor. We got answers from Joseph Jerome, then the policy counsel for the Center for Democracy & Technology’s privacy and data project, about how accountable VPNs were for their business models, privacy practices, security protocols, and protections, and how that related to trustworthiness. We spoke with Trail of Bits co-founder and CEO Dan Guido about the security challenges inherent in VPNs and the limitations of security audits and reports. We interviewed Eva Galperin, Electronic Frontier Foundation’s director of cybersecurity, about the limitations of VPNs and tips for selecting the appropriate VPN based on individual circumstances.

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