I'll Get You My Pretty, and Your Little VPN Too!
Pi-Hole! It's not just something that sounds like a sex move. It's a way to block out those annoying ads on your SmartTV. Lia Holland from Fight for the Future joins us to talk about defending VPNs.
Hello, friends —
I hope you're enjoying the surprise round of new episodes. We did two on storytelling, one on creativity, and over the next two weeks we'll release updated travel episodes as well. This week's episode is a bit shorter. We enjoyed our interview with Lia Holland of Fight for the Future so much that we wanted that to take center stage.
This week's privacy tip is more of a catch-up on some older content that's slipped through the cracks. For example, you might see show notes that say “Use Bitwarden,” but hear 2022 Rosie say, “Use 1Password.”
We also revisited our Smart TV episode from a few weeks ago. While that 2022 content still holds up, there are a few additional things you should know about privacy and anonymity for Smart TVs in 2025. (Remember: the best new TV you can get for yourself is actually a computer monitor.)
After the election — and with some luck, because our media ecosystem is broken — you’ll hopefully start to see Rosie making the interview and podcast rounds to hype the return of Stupid Sexy Privacy and to talk about how to protect yourself from fascists and weirdos.
I'm doing my best to finish the book, so you probably won't hear or see me doing that stuff until March or April.
Either way, we hope you're enjoying this revival. There's still a lot to do, like getting those Tuesday emails out to you every week. Keep an eye out for those starting in 2026.
Enjoy this week's episode, and tell your friends. We're stronger together.
-BJ
Show Notes
Stupid Sexy Privacy Show Notes For Season 1, Episode 10
Episode Title: The Fascists & Weirdos Are Coming For Your VPN
Guest: Lia Holland, Fight for the Future
Episode Summary: Pi-Hole! It's not just something that sounds like a sex move. It's a way to block out those annoying ads on your SmartTV. That's right, we're talking SmartTV's again in this week's episode, and Lia Holland from Fight for the Future joins us to talk about defending VPNs. The next front in the fight against fascists and weirdos.
Key Points From This Week's Privacy Tip
This week, we updated some of the older content that's run thus far. For example, we don't want you to use 1Password unless you've already tried BitWarden or KeePassXC.
But more importantly ... we're revisiting our episode on SmartTVs.
You should still turn off ACR, but we have additional advice we want you to follow in today's episode.
For example, don't connect the TV to the Internet and power it off when it's not in use. Use an AppleTV or Roku instead to access your favorite streaming apps.
But ... if we can't convince you to do that, we recommend you check out Pi-Hole.
Pi-Hole is a little, inexpensive computer you can plug into your router, that'll filter out all the ads your SmartTV wants to show you when you use its interface. The process to install it will look VERY overwhelming, but we promise if you follow the directions in the video below, you'll be able to get it done in a couple of hours.
Here are excellent step by step directions on how to do it from Crosstalk Solutions:
If you need help finding a Raspberry Pi, try rpiIlocator.
What's cool about doing this is that, the use of Pi-Hole on your network can go well beyond blocking annoying ads on your SmartTV. So, for those of you with a little extra time, we highly recommend watching the video, reading the blog post, and installing Pi-Hole on your home network.
(And if you're like, "What the hell is a Virtual Machine?" Don't worry. We're going to talk a lot about those later. But you CAN use a Virtual Machine instead of a Raspberry Pi to run Pi-Hole on your network if needed.)
Interview summary — Lia Holland, Fight for the Future
- Fight for the Future is a queer women- and artists-led tech-justice nonprofit focused on free expression, privacy, anti-surveillance, and access to knowledge; it took off as a force during the SOPA/PIPA internet protests, and continues the fight for a better Internet for all.
- Like we said in a previous episode: Storytelling matters for activism. For example: media often normalizes surveillance ("copaganda"); Fight for the Future runs projects (e.g., a short-story contest and toolkit) to push creators to portray surveillance tech more critically.
- Section 230 is defended as essential to online speech and protecting marginalized groups (sex workers, religious minorities, abortion-related information); removing it risks empowering censorship by powerful actors.
- VPNs protect IPs and location, enabling censorship circumvention and solidarity; Fight for the Future launched DefendVPNs to oppose proposed VPN bans. We encourage everyone to sign this petition and support the campaign asap. VPNs are the next thing the fascists and weirdos are coming after, and we must be ready to stop them.
Resources (No Affiliate Links. We use this stuff too.)
Our Sponsor: DuckDuckGo <--Recommended Browser and VPN
Recommended Products
Get Your Privacy Notebook: Get your Leuchtturm1917 notebook here.
-BitWarden.com (Password Manager: easier to use, costs money)
- KeepPassXC (Password Manager: free, harder to use, but more secure)
-Slnt Privacy Stickers for Phones and Laptops
-Stop using SMS and WhatsApp, start using Signal.
-Use Element instead of Slack for group coordination
Get In Touch: You can contact us here
Want the full transcript of today's show, as well as our interview with Lia? All you have to do is sign-up for our newsletter. It's free. Plus you'll get a free .pdf and .mp3 of our new book, "How to Protect Yourself From Fascists & Weirdos" next year.
Full Episode Transcript:
Show Intro
Rosie: Welcome to another edition of Stupid Sexy Privacy.
Andrew: A podcast miniseries sponsored by our friends at DuckDuckGo.
Rosie: I’m your host, Rosie Tran.
You may have seen me on ChimeTV’s A Brand New Yay!
Or on Season 2 of Peacock’s Comedy InvAsian.
Andrew: And I’m your co-producer, Andrew VanVoorhis. With us, as always, is Bonzo the Snow Monkey.
Bonzo: Monkey sound!
Rosie: I’m pretty sure that’s not what a Japanese Macaque sounds like.
Andrew: Oh it’s not. Not even close.
Rosie: Let’s hope there aren’t any zooologists listening.
Bonzo: (Monkey Sound?)
Rosie: Ok. I’m ALSO pretty sure that’s not what a Snow Monkey sounds like.
*Clear hers throat*
Rosie: Over the course of this miniseries, we’re going to offer you short, actionable tips to protect your data, your privacy, and yourself from fascists and weirdos.
These tips were sourced by our fearless leader — he really hates when we call him that — BJ Mendelson.
Episodes 1 through 24 were written a couple of years ago.
But since a lot of that advice is still relevant, we thought it would be worth sharing again for those who missed it.
Andrew: And if you have heard these episodes before, you should know we’ve gone back and updated a bunch of them.
Even adding some brand new interviews and privacy tips along the way.
Rosie: That’s right. So before we get into today’s episode, make sure you visit StupidSexyPrivacy.com and subscribe to our newsletter.
Andrew: This way you can get updates on the show, and be the first to know when new episodes are released in 2026.
Rosie: And if you sign-up for the newsletter, you’ll also get a free pdf and mp3 copy of BJ and Amanda King’s new book, “How to Protect Yourself From Fascists & Weirdos.” All you have to do is visit StupidSexyPrivacy.com
Andrew: StupidSexyPrivacy.com
Rosie: That’s what I just said. StupidSexyPrivacy.com.
Andrew: I know, but repetition is the key to success. You know what else is?
Rosie: What?
Bonzo: (Monkey Sound?)
Rosie: I’m really glad this show isn’t on YouTube, because they’d pull it down like, immediately.
Andrew: I know. Google sucks.
Rosie: And on that note, let’s get to today’s privacy tip!
Let's Update Some Old Stuff & Talk About SmartTVs ... Again
Roise: So, as you know, we’re working our way through the original miniseries that aired from 2022 to 2023.
Along the way, tweaking episodes and adding new interviews.
Pretty soon, at the end of Episode 1, you’ll get to hear an interview with me.
Then at the end of Episode 5 and 6, you’ll also hear our two part interview with Dr. Treena Orchard.
Treena is the author of the book, “Sticky, Sexy, Sad.”
She is also Associate Professor and Faculty Scholar at Western University's School of Health Studies.
We’ll let you know when those changes go live.
Despite our best efforts, there’s still old stuff that slips through the cracks.
For example, some episodes have suggested you use 1Password.
We now prefer you use BitWarden or KeePassXC as your Password Manager.
Ditto with our advice concerning ClamAV for antivirus protection.
ClamAV is great, but complicated to use for most people. Use BitDefender instead.
Another suggestion that’s a bit dated, is our mention of ProtonVPN.
We still recommend ProtonVPN for specific instances, but for most people, in most cases, DuckDuckGo’s VPN will work just fine.
As you’ll hear in our interview this week, with Lia Holland from Fight For The Future, our goal right now is just to get everyone using a VPN.
It doesn’t matter which VPN you use, as long as it’s not one of those sketchy ones advertised on YouTube.
Now, this isn’t all the tweaks and changes to be aware of.
In fact, in an upcoming episode, you’re going to hear me mention Apple’s lighting cables, instead of the now standard USB-C.
But the big update we want to talk about are SmartTVs.
We did a whole episode on that one.
And most of it still holds up, because the single most important thing you can do is turn off Automatic Content Recognition.
Every SmartTV is going to be different on how to do this.
So, before you make a purchase — or before you turn ACR off on your TV — you’re going to need to spend some time on DuckDuckGo.
Searching for your television’s brand name, its model number, and the words automatic content recognition.
While you’re doing this, now would also be a good time to do a similar search; but instead of the words automatic content recognition at the end, put the word microphone there. Then try the word camera, and then finally the word privacy.
So for example: your television’s brand name + its model number + the word camera.
You get the idea.
The fact is, you do have a lot of control over what data your SmartTV collects.
The thing is, the manufacturers like to bury the steps on how to turn this stuff off.
Isn’t that nice of them?
*Monkey Sound!*
Rosie: There’s some other stuff that’s worth highlighting when it comes to SmartTVs.
Chief among them, if you’re looking to buy a new TV, the best new TV you can buy is actually a computer monitor.
This way, you’re not dealing with any of this data collection bullshit.
And, if anyone wants an un-open, brand new ACER monitor … One that’s been sitting in BJ’s garage for like, five years, let us know.
At this point, it has more dust on it than the Ark of the Covenant.
Now, let’s say you insist on buying a new television and not a computer monitor.
Well, you should know that there aren’t a lot of great alternatives to SmartTVs.
That’s because the TV manufacturers want you to buy a SmartTV.
Like the car companies, the TV companies make a ton of money collecting and selling your information without your consent.
And once that information is out there, it leaves you vulnerable to fascists and weirdos.
So while there are DumbTVs available, not a lot of them are great.
If you want one, you’re going to have to do some digging to find one that meets your needs.
If you do buy a SmartTV, which is totally fine, there’s still a lot you can do to protect your privacy beyond turning off ACR.
Chief among them, never connecting your SmartTV to the Internet and making sure it’s completely powered off when it’s not in use.
Instead, use your Playstation, AppleTV, or Roku to access the streaming services directly.
But let’s say you don’t want to do that. In which case, make sure your TV’s software is routinely up to date.
And put some tape over any cameras that the television comes with.
Lastly, For our more advanced users, you can use Pi-Hole to block out the smartTV ads.
Pi-Hole is basically a little computer that you plug into your router.
It’s not going to be the easiest thing we recommend you do, but it’s very effective and relatively inexpensive.
We’ve included a video in today’s show notes on how to set up Pi-Hole.
And yes, BJ had to triple check to make sure Pi-Hole wasn’t some kind of sexual reference.
It’s not. He just had it confused with cornhole.
Now, let’s get into our interview with Lia Holland from Fight for the Future.
Interview with Lia Holland, Fight For The Future
BJ Mendelson, Stupid Sexy Privacy Co-Producer: Hello, Leah. Thank you so much for joining us today on Stupid Sexy Privacy. Would you like to take a moment just to introduce yourself and fight for the future?
Lia Holland, Fight for the Future: Yeah, totally. My name is Leah Holland, as you said. I work with Fight for the Future, which is a queer women and artists led nonprofit organization that focuses on issues of tech justice and accountability, both like legislative and also corporate accountability. We basically fight for the Internet that everybody deserves.
BJ: I love it. I also love that you use she, they pronouns. We don't often get to mention pronouns on the show. So I thought that was really cool. I use he, him. Tell us a bit more about Fight for the Future.
Lia Holland: Yeah, so Fights been around for well over a decade at this point. The organization had its genesis with the SOPA PIPA internet blackouts. That's when the group of activists that founded Fight for the Future came together and stopped a bill that was impossible to stop by driving internet outrage into political power and scaring the heck out of Congress. And we are still legendary in those halls for that action and many years of advocacy following on. These days, we mostly focus on issues of free expression, privacy, anti-surveillance, campaigning, and also access to knowledge and culture.
BJ: And let me ask you, I heard that you were, the organization is de-Googling and I'd love to know how that process is going.
Lia Holland: Oh my gosh, it's so fascinating because I mean, I can just speak personally on it for a minute that I've been using Google for basically my entire adult life. And so my mental construct of what work looks like and how it gets done has actually been defined by this corporation in a way that I wasn't aware of.
And so, the process of de-Googling for Fight for the Future has also been a process of personal reprogramming for what work looks like and also accepting to a certain extent because I'll be honest, Google's tools are really good; and my brain is just absolutely programmed to work with them. So yeah, other things feel slower, other things feel different. I'm having to adapt a lot and… And that's a process. But every time I confront that like, “I want to get it done faster. be busy, be busy, be busy type of reaction”. When I'm using a non Google product, I think about why I'm doing what I'm doing. And it's this little moment of like, smugness of like, see, Google, we don't actually need you.
BJ: Yeah, and you know, it's funny that taking that beat and to think about doing what you're doing comes up so often on this show, and with a lot of the privacy tips. And so it's interesting that it's coming up there. Let me ask you, like, generally speaking, getting off the big tech platforms, what has that process been like?
Lia Holland: Well, we're lucky enough at Fight for the Future to have a couple of devs on staff. We have an amazing CTO here who builds a lot of our custom tech tools for advocacy and what have you. So, for us, there was like an iterative process of testing alternatives to Google Docs. There was… An assessment of what just makes the most sense for this team in terms of email solutions.
And we've already been using things like Element, which is an encrypted and decentralized alternative to Slack.
And just moving into more of those tools and finding the ones that actually can support like real time document collaboration or this one looks pretty, but it doesn't let you make comments and that's a problem. It's been a… It's been a trial and error process a bit here.
The biggest takeaway, I think, for our dev team is that everybody should be using the same tools the same way. So we've been coming together around that a bit more, that fight than we ever had before. And it's created more cohesion and also just more understanding of each other's processes, which has been good too.
BJ: Yeah, is there any particular tool, you mentioned Element, are there any particular tools that you've come across that have been super helpful that people might be curious to check out?
Lia Holland: Well, I mean, Element is our number one. It's been incredible as a tool, as a Slack replacement. We are super reliant on it as an org and it has really performed well for us. Little things like we have bots that every time somebody donates to fight for the future, we get a little notification that somebody gave and things like that. And then, I also should just shout out, and I mean, for listeners of this podcast, it's basic, but like we do all our calls on Signal now, basically, Unless like an external partner wants to use a Google link or a Zoom or what have you. If they're on Signal and we're on Signal, we are defaulting to Signal. That's where we do our group standups every day. We do video calls, screen shares. It is just so impressive how far that team has come with how good their tool is. We can basically do almost anything there.
BJ: Yeah, I can't recommend Signal enough. I think about some of the local groups that I'm involved with that are still using WhatsApp to tell each other about ICE raids and what's going on in the community. And getting them to use Signal has been really difficult. I think once they do see it, they start to go, “this is really good.” The light kind of goes off.
Let me ask you a bit about storytelling and activism, because we spent … by the time this interview airs, we've spent a couple of weeks talking about how to tell stories that build movements, that you can build a movement around. And so I know that you've also done some work that's sort of integrated storytelling and activism. So I'd love to hear a little bit about your thoughts generally first about how story can play a role in activist movements.
Lia Holland: Totally such a great question and right up my alley. One of my other hats is an author hat, I write fiction. And I just got the opportunity this past year to finally unite like my fight for the future world and my writing world a little bit and really dig into this question because one of the biggest problems that we're up against is the False narrative of surveillance meaning safety and that installing that Ring camera is going to keep you safer and your community safer when the truth is that it's the opposite or safety for whom if you are just some liberal who Is afraid of the bogeymen outside or what have you.
And so for me, no matter what campaign it is, whether we're campaigning against Ring or as facial recognition at airports or what have you, there's this… Pop culture conception that the good guys are using the surveillance tech and that they need it to catch the bad guys and it's only gonna be used by the good guys and that we should support the surveillance technology because you know, the true detectives are using it or the CSI is using it or what have you and the root of that total misconception of how these technologies are increasingly being used to implement fascism throughout the globe is that, the root of that is storytellers and the people who are writing these scripts, who are writing these novels, who are basically through the ether, like absorbing these press releases that come directly from these surveillance tech companies, these military tech companies, cops, what have you. And taking them as truth, when largely they are not.
They're the world that these press releases and these marketing points represent the world that the companies that are selling the worst, most invasive, most horrific surveillance tech want us to believe exists. And so we wanted to clap back at that and create a narrative from the day that I guess of the… Civil society sphere, pushing back against the Goliath of like the multi-billion dollar marketing budgets of the biggest corporations in the world and say, you know, “we want surveillance tech, copaganda” is something that so many storytellers are complicit in. Here's how to start thinking differently. Here's how not to be. Here's how to recognize your bias and the things that you've absorbed through the medium of just Pop culture and society and do better, like do better for us, the activists who are working on the front lines for the communities that are most effective, and also for your own stories, doing something new and different instead of the same old tropes that are based on a lie.
BJ: Yeah, you know, I think about the TV industry and these days there are fewer and fewer jobs and the jobs that are available go to people who are like independently wealthy somehow and have time to write, or they're lucky enough or wealthy enough to have the right connections. And so you do get a lot of folks who kind of live in a bubble, right? And so they don't necessarily understand some of the harmful effects that come from things like copaganda. You know, I'm thinking about shows like FBI where … My parents love that and it just drives me up a wall. But like they've got like a huge room of computers and they're all at their desk and they're using the computers to find the bad guys. And so that's that really attracted me to the Stop Copaganda project.
I wanted just to drill into that a bit more about what was the impetus? I think we touched on a little bit, but what was the impetus behind the project and how does that specifically or if you can think of an example of how you blend activism with storytelling there?
Lia Holland: I'm trying to put my finger on the exact moment that it all started, because I think we've been talking about the idea of doing more collaborations with authors for a while at Fight for the Future. Several people had had similar ideas. And I think that there was just this moment where for RightsCon 2025, they sent out the call for proposals, and RightsCon is like the largest
Tech and Privacy and Human Rights Conference in the world, held in a different place around the globe every year.
And they sent out this call for proposals and I was like, would they be interested in doing a story contest? Maybe I just ask. And so I sent the RightsCon folks an interview and like less than 36 hours later, I think, I was on with their whole team. They were like, this sounds great, let's do it. And I'm like, okay, well, okay. We're doing it. this is my hair, the hair, the hair brain scheme has suddenly become very, very real. And we're going to do a short story contest and we're to do it on surveillance tech and copaganda. And then it all just mushroomed from there into this big project where there was like a group of short stories from these really prestigious authors who were like, who were like selected to be published in Strange Horizons, this amazing literary magazine. And one of them flew out and joined us at RightsCon. And then we had a, like three sessions, I think it was, at RightsCon, over 100 human rights activists contributed to the notes and reflections that make up the bulk of the toolkit paired with these short stories and sort of analyzing how the stories are told, how they could be told better, what's done well, like what sort of thinking is happening in these stories that make them so appealing to us as activists working against these very forces.
So that's a bit more of the how, but I think that the genesis of it was just a series of, yes, yes, yes. Everybody who heard about the project was just so excited by the idea. And that's when you know you know you got to pursue it, even if it ends up being a heck of a lot of work to read like 100 plus short story submissions.
Ad Break with BJ
BJ Mendelson: Hello Everyone, this is BJ Mendelson, and I am the writer and co-producer of Stupid Sexy Privacy.
When I’m not working on the show, I’m usually yelling at my television because of the New York Mets.
I want to take a moment to tell you about a book I co-authored with Amanda King.
It’s called “How to Protect Yourself From Fascists & Weirdos,” and the title tells you everything you need to know about what’s inside.
Thanks to our friends at DuckDuckGo, Amanda and I are releasing this book, for free, in early 2026.
If you want a DRM free .pdf copy? You can have one.
If you want a DRM free .mp3 of the audiobook? You can have that too.
All you need to do is visit StupidSexyPrivacy.com and subscribe to our newsletter.
That website again is StupidSexyPrivacy.com, and we’ll send you both the PDF and the MP3, as soon they’re ready.
Now, I gotta get out of here before Bonzo shows up.
He’s been trying to sell me tickets to see the White Sox play the Rockies.
And I don’t have time to explain to him how Interleague Baseball is a sin against God.
I’ve got a book to finish.
Interview Continued:
BJ: That's fantastic though. You know that you really hit on something when you get that kind of response. It's just, it's awesome to hear. Before we get to VPNs, which is what brought us together, there's something I want to ask you real quick. And I thought it was really important because I think, before we … So we were in production with Stupid Sexy Privacy like between 22 and 2023. And then we went away for a while and we didn't think we were going to come back. And then of course, Lord Goldemort gets elected and we felt compelled to come back. So … We did a lot of research and we went back through all of the big privacy books and a lot of them kind of dump on Section 230, right? Like they kind of cite it as this evil thing that empowers a lot of extremist speech or we talk about fascists and weirdos on this show, like it empowers a lot of them and there's definitely a dark side to it, but. I also came across your piece in Wired, which I really liked, which was defending Section 230. And you were using a very specific example of saying it was the last line of defense for abortion speech online. That's really important to us. That's really important to our audience. And so I was hoping you could explain why Section 230 is so important in helping to do that.
Lia Holland: Totally, yeah. So Section 230 is the First Amendment of the Internet. And people who say that it allows for quote unquote bad speech or what have you are right, because it operates more or less online in the same way that the First Amendment operates the United States. You can say terrible, horrific things in the United States. And you can also at this time, depending on the platform and their moderation policies, do that on the internet. The crux of the issue of taking Section 230 away is who decides what is bad speech. And I think that this is like one of the most fundamental misconceptions in organizing for a better, more just internet is that if you create a tool for censorship and deplatforming that only works, just like the Coppaganda thing we were talking about, when it's in the hands of the good guys or who you consider to be “the good guys”, you are creating a tool for censorship of also the causes that you care about most. And so for us, section 230, the ability to speak freely online is an essential underpinning of the internet's ability to spread essential knowledge like safe sex information, abortion care, et cetera.
And if we don't have that fundamental protection, then the cascading effects of like, you we were talking about like, “let's get rid of section 230” back in the Biden administration or what have you. I think that if a lot of people who were after it back then, if you say today, well, yeah, let's get rid of the First Amendment online. Let's make sure that the Trump administration can decide exactly what we're allowed to say on the internet by pressuring social media companies and suing them if they support any speech that Trump doesn't like. I think that they'd have a much different opinion. It's just to us, it seems like a really short-sighted choice to go after Section 230 when really you have to go after the deeper social ills that lead to the sort of speech that is harmful.
BJ: Yeah, and I have tell you, like, your article really helped turn me around on that. Because I think coming out of the research, what we went through about like 30 books, like I said, the majority of them were like, “we need to do away with Section 230.” And then I read your article, and I was like, no, you're absolutely right. And then I had come across, I think it was in The Nation or Mother Jones. I'm pretty sure it's The Nation where there was an article on late term abortions. And I was just thinking like this article would be attacked and pulled down and censored without Section 230 protecting it on some of these social media sites. Like there is no way that this would survive a moral, you know, a fake moral panic, which we'll get to in a second. So, yeah, we're gonna link to your article in the show notes. I really recommend people read it, because I think it was very eye-opening.
Lia Holland: Thank you. Yeah, it was. That's one of the biggest issues that we fight on is the ability to still speak and be platformed online. And the reason that we've taken such a strong stance and often end up taking strong and unpopular stances, even stances that lose us major funders, is that we are very accountable to the most marginalized communities that we can be in conversation with.
And so our analysis of Section 230 is rooted in direct communication with sex workers, with religious minorities, with the people who have experienced censorship and deplatforming even under Section 230 that is unfair. And it is through conversation with them and putting them at like the center of our analysis that we are able to see clearly why this law is so important. And I think that the repeal of Roe was a moment of clarity for many, many more people, where all of a sudden these weren't, you know, like fringe issues that only applied to minority groups that maybe you don't even know a member of. All of sudden it became very, very clear for a lot more people. So I'm glad that that article is still making the rounds and I'm glad I changed your mind.
BJ: Yeah, in our logo, we have the LGBTQIA flag in it for the podcast for a reason. We want to help be a shield for everybody. So I definitely recommend people check out the article.
Let me move to the VPN front. So. Our whole deal at Super Sexy Privacy is to basically empower 5% Americans to be 1% better at protecting themselves from fascists and weirdos.
And so our position is that everyone should be using a VPN at this point. What we're recommending is like, just as a real basic default option is DuckDuckGo. That's not because they sponsor us, it's just because we use it. And then what we've also recommended is that ProtonVPN is like, you … you know, I work as a journalist when I'm not doing the show. And so, you know, for me, I have a higher threat vector than a lot of people would, so ProtonVPN makes more sense.
On a high level, I was hoping you can help us educate our speech-wise listeners about why VPN is so important in the first place.
Lia Holland: Yeah, so at Fight, we don't actually endorse any VPN because we've seen over time just how slippery it can get with VPNs in terms of their ownership might change, their privacy policy might change, the laws in the country in which they operate might change. And the thing to know about a VPN is that it protects your IP address. It lets you act as if you are accessing the internet from a location that you are not in, which is very, very powerful for surveillance and censorship, circumvention and basic safety. But it does that by routing all of your traffic through its own servers. And that means that it is extremely important that you trust the VPN that you are using because they could be gobbling up all of your data in the exact same way selling it. could actually be less private than not using a VPN if you're using the wrong one. And so that's like a big flag that we've got on that.
BJ: Yeah, I've seen that. What makes me nervous is there's a lot of YouTubers, and I won't name what the VPN is, but they're promoting VPN. It's got a sketchy track record in terms of what it does with your data. And then the other thing is, even the quote unquote good ones like DuckDuckGo and ProtonVPN, DuckDuckGo is still subject to laws and regulations within the United States. And ProtonVPN, I think that they've moved their offices or are in the process of moving their office. I forgot where they were based originally, but they're still subject to wherever their locality is when laws and regulations are on the books too. So you're right. There's always that risk that even if the quote unquote good ones, if the laws change, you have to be a little careful.
Lia Holland: Totally, and just like if people are looking for a good mental model for how to think about this and how to think through this and do that analysis, I've got to shout out our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. They have their Surveillance Self-Defense Guide and there's a section on VPNs there that has how to think about VPNs laid out real nice.
BJ: Yeah, we just did an interview with them that's gonna air I think the week before yours. So I'm glad that you mentioned that, because now the two go together beautifully. On a more granular level, I was hoping, my Dad turned to me the other day and he heard for the first time on the radio an ad for a VPN and he said to me, why do I need that? And so for people who don't know, like … Could you expand a little bit about what kind of information they might be leaving behind when they don't use a VPN?
Lia Holland: Yeah, totally. Location, your IP address is a direct link to where you are. So when you're like shopping on the Home Depot website or something like that, and it detects that you're in St. Louis, Missouri, and it's doing that using your VPN. And location on VPNs can get pretty granular. Or sorry, location on. IP addresses can get pretty granular going all the way back to like torrenting and the 2000s and all those nasty grams that movie studios and record labels were sending to teenagers. Like they were doing that because they were collecting the IP addresses of those people and then mailingit to the associated physical address, their legal threats. So what can be done with an IP address? Is far beyond just knowing where you are. IP addresses can also be used to track you across the internet, to act like data broker firms, to de-anonymize data so that they can see that, that thing that you did two years ago from the same location can now be associated with your actual identity by IP address. So it's a really powerful tool for surveillance and it is also a really powerful tool for blocking access to content for censorship.
A lot of these states are now requiring ID checks, which is just another like form of real creepy surveillance. And in response, there are websites like in Mississippi, for example, you can't get on Blue Sky anymore if you have an IP address that is in Mississippi.
In Nepal last month when the students overthrew the government and social media was briefly banned amid the back and forth there of the corruption protests, VPN usage spiked because people were able to use a VPN to pretend like they weren't in Nepal and to still access the organizing tools that they needed in order to get the word out and continue to overthrow the government.
So that freedom of access is a very big threat to authoritarian regimes. It is also a very big like middle finger to all the surveillance capitalist forces that want to gobble up every piece of data on us imaginable and link it all together and just have a full picture of like who we are, where we are, what we do, all of that jazz. And then the third reason to use a VPN besides a big middle finger to those first two actors is solidarity. Because if you are using a VPN, just like using Signal, that helps to normalize these tools. And to vote with your actions for the sort of technology and the sort of privacy that we want to see baked into the internet moving forward.
BJ: And I know you touched on it a little bit and we probably won't have time to dive into it too much, but I did want to ask if you could explain real quick why VPNs are under attack, just as people specifically understand what's happening.
Lia Holland: Yeah, so we launched our defendvpns.com campaign in response to increasing chatter among lawmakers in the West about banning VPNs. And the reason that they're interested in banning VPNs is because they brought forth these ID Check, age verification laws like UCOSA in Britain, or what I mentioned in Mississippi, or they're considering right now an ID tech law for adult websites that would require adult websites block VPNs entirely.
And what is an adult website is very broadly defined. We know and have campaigned for many years at great cost against age verification laws because we know that they will both be ineffective and they will actually make the internet less safe, not more safe, just like all surveillance.
And a natural follow on that we've seen for years is that politicians, once they realize that the laws that they've passed are ineffective, if not harmful, will then turn to the next technology that they can blame, which is going to be VPNs. And we see now that that is starting to happen and starting to accelerate. And so we want to say to lawmakers now before they really dig in on their VPN ban position that this is going to be wildly unpopular and they're going to face incredible headwinds from the internet, that it could be a SOPA/PIPA all over again if they really come for our last bastion of privacy online, which is going to be VPNs.
BJ: Yeah, and we want to fight. That's definitely our position here is, if they want to ban VPNs, we're ready to fight them. For people who also want to join the fight, can you tell us a bit more about Defend VPNs and what it does and what people can do when they visit?
Lia Holland: Yeah, so right now, defendvpns.com is, it's basically sign up and say that you're ready to fight. We have a petition to world leaders that you can sign. And at that point, you know, like we don't, we have a great privacy policy at Fight for the Future. We are a privacy focused organization, but we collect just enough information to know generally where you are and how to contact you. And we are planning right now. And in consultation with a bunch of different stakeholders, what our next move is on VPN bans, like whether we're gonna be doing some big stunts or if we're gonna be building a huge coalition of civil society or of small businesses, or if we're gonna be going to lawmakers and looking for constituents to meet with their lawmakers, to talk to them about the importance of VPNs for their own lives, whether they're like a small business or an abuse survivor or what have you. Really these movements succeed when we have people together and organized and we have just taken the first step and are now plotting our next one. So if you want to be a part of those next steps, go to defendvpns.com and you can sign the petition and then we will have that minimal data and be able to reach out to you when it is time to do the thing. And it seems like it's gonna be time to do the thing pretty soon.
BJ: Yeah, I definitely have that impression. So let me ask you my last question. How can we support Fight for the Future and your efforts? Where can we donate? Where can we volunteer? Where can we sign up?
Lia Holland: Yeah, okay, so if you have money, you should give it to us. We're fightforthethefuture.org. We have a 501c3 nonprofit for tax-deductible donations. We also have a c4, which isn't tax-deductible, but that's how we fight bad legislation. That's how we fight VPN bans. It is a dire landscape out there for fundraising right now. So becoming a monthly donor for us is huge. It really helps. We try to do everything we can to ask people to give and end of year giving and all of that jazz. But man, like those monthly donations really matter.
So you can go there for that. If you don't have money, there's still plenty that you can do. In addition to signing that petition, you could sign up for our general mailing list for all the issues that we campaign on. There's an SMS list for urgent alerts and there is also a Signal group, for those who are most privacy minded where it's, we just basically post here are the immediate actions that we are hoping you can take now. And that's, you know, a couple of times a month or something like that, that we'll post to that Signal group and it just keeps growing and growing. whatever is a good fit there, you can also follow us on social media and share our videos and what have you. We're doing a much better job these days on the socials than we used to. So, or at least in terms of Instagram, so. If you want to do that, you can do that too. And any support means a hell of a lot to us. So yeah, thanks for asking.
DuckDuckGo Live Read
Rosie: There are two economies in America.
One for the wealthy, and one for you and me.
And the one for you and me resembles what used to be called a “third-world country.”
These days, we more politely call them “developing countries.”
And we should!
Because with the way things are going, those developing countries are soon going to kick our ass.
And offer things like universal healthcare coverage.
So, we know managing your privacy, data security, and anonymity can get expensive.
Which leads to the question: What’s the least you can do, to get the most in protecting yourself from fascists and weirdos?
We’d like to recommend the following:
-Use Signal for all text messaging with your friends, family, co-workers, and fellow protestors. Do NOT use WhatsApp.
-Use Bitwarden to manage your passwords.
And last but not least, get the DuckDuckGo Subscription Plan.
For about $10 a month, or around $100 a year, DuckDuckGo offers a solid VPN, identity theft restoration protection, private access to advanced AI chat models, and a data removal service.
These four items are often sold separately for way more than $100 a year.
And $100 a year is way less than what you spend on virtually every streaming service.
You can sign up for the DuckDuckGo subscription via the Settings menu in the DuckDuckGo browser, available on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows, or via the DuckDuckGo subscription website: duckduckgo.com slash subscriptions
The DuckDuckGo subscription is currently available to residents of the U.S., U.K., E.U., and Canada. Feature availability varies by region.
But your piece of mind will not. Because supporting companies like DuckDuckGo is one of the key ways we can defeat fascists and weirdos.
Don’t support companies that support the fascists and weirdos.
Support DuckDuckGo instead.
Show Outro
Rosie: This episode of Stupid Sexy Privacy was recorded in Hollywood, California.
It was written by BJ Mendelson, produced by Andrew VanVoorhis, and hosted by me, Rosie Tran.
And of course, our program is sponsored by our friends at DuckDuckGo.
If you enjoy the show, I hope you’ll take a moment to leave us a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you may be listening.
This won’t take more than two minutes of your time, and leaving us a review will help other people find us.
We have a crazy goal of helping five percent of Americans get 1% better at protecting themselves from Fascists and Weirdos.
Your reviews can help us reach that goal, since leaving one makes our show easier to find.
So, please take a moment to leave us a review, and I’ll see you right back here next Thursday at midnight.
Right after you watch my episode of Comedy InVASIAN on Peacock, right?
