Do you have a VPN? A PGP key? 2 factor authentication? [View all]
If you don't even know what those words mean, then my friend, allow me to introduce you to the Electronic Freedom Foundation's Security Starter Pack.
A VPN is a virtual private network. It masks your IP address (how your computer tells all of the other computers "Hi, I'm here!"
and helps prevent location services from being used against you. VPN services are pretty cheap, $5-10 a month. You're looking for services like Cloak, NordVPN, VPN Unlimited, or ZenVPN. You can usually get a deal at the BoingBoing.net store.
A PGP key is an open-source encryption protocol. You make a public key, that you give to anyone, and a private key, that you never reveal to anyone. Encryption can be a pain in the butt, but if we're all encrypting, it makes those trying to decrypt work exponentially harder to get Aunt Lucy's Cauliflower Au Gratin recipe, or those baby pics of your friend's kid... and helps mask the more critical encrypted messages in the traffic. Here's an easy tutorial: https://www.deepdotweb.com/2013/11/11/pgp-tutorial-for-newbs-gpg4win/
Two factor authentication is how we keep accounts and devices more secure. Two factor depends on you having a thing you have, and thing you know -- like a password and a key. You can set this up on all mail systems and a lot of other systems. Here's Apple's tutorial https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204915 and Google's https://www.google.com/landing/2step/
Why this matters: Digital communication is how we're talking to each other. We have to protect it as much as possible. That starts with getting everyone up to speed on the basics of personal security. These services are becoming more required and less optional every day. Start with 2 factor if you're completely new to this, but start somewhere.
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