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Privacy Gadgets I Buy So Accounts Stay Boring
12
items I would rather tap a key, pocket an encrypted disk, and cover the lens than rent another privacy app. Amazon hardware I actually keep on the ring and in the bag: keys, storage, and the boring blockers.
Sections
3
Keys, Not SMS
Disks That Stay Shut
Block The Obvious Holes
Keys, Not SMS
Hardware 2FA you can tap. SMS is the weak link I still see on admin logins.
On the ring for GitHub, Google, and anything that accepts a tap. USB-A plus NFC so a phone can use it. I keep a spare in the drawer. SMS 2FA is the hole I still close first. Hardware, not an authenticator screenshot on a stolen phone. If the account ...
YubiKey 5 NFC
Cheaper second key when I will not buy two YubiKeys the same week. Works as a spare for the accounts that accept FIDO2. Build quality is not Yubico. A spare that lives off-site still beats one key on one ring. I enroll it on GitHub and Google, then i...
Thetis FIDO2 Key
USB-C version of the key on the ring, for Macs that no longer have USB-A. Same tap, NFC still works on the phone. I carry this one in the laptop pouch, not on the house keys. Two keys, two ports, one spare off-site. If your only machine is USB-C, sta...
YubiKey 5C NFC
Disks That Stay Shut
Encrypted portable storage so a lost bag is not an open filing cabinet.
1TB I drop in the bag for archives, tax PDFs, and project dumps. Hardware encryption, USB-C, rubber shell that survives a backpack. Not a NAS. The off-laptop copy I can pull when the Mac dies in a cafe. I still keep a second copy elsewhere. This is t...
Samsung T7 Shield
PIN pad on the stick so the volume never mounts without the code. Slower and fussier than the T7. I use it for the few folders I would hate to see in a screenshot. Overkill for vacation photos. I keep it in the kit so I am not improvising with a wors...
iStorage datAshur
Smaller encrypted stick for a single client folder I have to hand someone. Not my backup strategy. Better than a naked thumb drive in the mail. I format it after the job. I keep it in the kit so I am not improvising with a worse tool the morning I ac...
Kingston Encrypted USB
Block The Obvious Holes
Lens covers, cable locks, Faraday, and a shredder for the paper trail.
Cafe and coworking: lock the laptop to the table when I walk to the counter. Cable is ugly. A stolen Mac is uglier. I do not use it at home. I use it the second the bag leaves my foot. I keep it in the kit so I am not improvising with a worse tool th...
Kensington Cable Lock
Slider over the Brio and the laptop cam. Three for a few dollars. Software kill switches fail. I slide it shut after a call. Tiny, I forget it is there, which is the point. I keep it in the kit so I am not improvising with a worse tool the morning I ...
Webcam Cover
Phone in the pouch when I need a quiet block or I am traveling with a spare that should not ping. Not daily. Useful in airports and for a device I do not want talking to a tower. Test yours with a call before you trust it. Cheap bags leak. I only use...
Faraday Bag
MacBook filter for trains and planes so the row behind me is not reading Stripe. Darker screen, worse colors, worth it on a full flight. I peel it off at the desk. I keep it in the kit so I am not improvising with a worse tool the morning I actually ...
3M Privacy Filter
Cross-cut for bank letters and 2FA backup codes I printed once and should not have left in a drawer. Boring appliance. The paper trail is still how a lot of accounts get recovered by the wrong person. I empty the bin. That is the whole product. If yo...
Amazon Basics Shredder
Thin sleeve for the Mac in a backpack so the T7 and the YubiKey are not grinding the aluminum. Not a full briefcase. Cafe to train, in and out. I pick a padded one with a front pocket for the Faraday pouch. Looks boring. That is the point. A naked la...
Laptop Sleeve 15.6