Blog
Writing. Privacy, your data, and taking it back.
Plain-English pieces about who has your data, what they do with it, and what you can do about it.
01 / Guides
Guides
Step-by-step help you can follow today: asking for your data, locking down your accounts, and deciding where your passwords should live.
All 4Moving your photos off iCloud and Google PhotosYour memories, on your own hard drive. What the subscription really buys, what happens when an account is locked, and how to get a copy of it all out.8 min readRead How to request your data under GDPR (and delete it)How to ask a company for a copy of your data, or to delete it, under UK GDPR. Email templates, the one-month deadline, and what to do if they ignore you.5 min readRead How to lock down your social media privacy settingsWhat a private account really hides, what your profile photo gives away, why stories show your routine, and the settings to change on each platform.10 min readRead
02 / Privacy
Privacy
What really happens to your data: who collects it, what they do with it, and the parts the companies would rather you didn’t notice.
All 8You bought the phone. Who decides what runs on Android?Google will soon want ID from the people who make Android apps. The scam problem behind it, and why a register of developers matters to you.12 min readRead The loyalty card illusion: what the points really costWhat supermarkets really get for those points, how the scheme makes its money, and why the card is oddly the most honest deal in the whole data economy.7 min readRead What your internet provider sees: broadband and mobileWhat your broadband and mobile providers can actually see now the web is encrypted, what happens to the logs, and what a VPN really changes.6 min readRead Why an ad blocker is not enoughWhat a browser extension can and cannot protect, why that protection is shrinking, and what changes when the blocking moves into the network itself.4 min readRead Your car is a smartphone on wheels, and it phones homeA plain look at what a modern car records on an ordinary drive to work, who ends up holding that data, and what it has already cost some drivers.5 min readRead Free apps are not free: what you actually pay withWhat you really hand over when a service costs nothing, why the profile outlives your account, and what changes if you run the tools yourself.4 min readRead
03 / Self-hosting
Self-hosting
Taking your data back: where it really lives, what happens when a service closes, and whether running things yourself is safer.
All 5What happens to your files if something happens to you?If one person runs the family's photos and passwords, everyone else can be locked out when they die or fall ill. What to write down, and where.6 min readRead Is running your own server actually safe?Is running your own apps less secure than using a big provider? A straight answer on where you're safer, where you're worse off, and why.4 min readRead What happens when the app you rely on shuts down?Services close, gadgets get switched off from afar and terms change without warning. What the record shows, and why software you run yourself has no end date.5 min readRead