You ever have a doctor take photos of your condition for further examination? How about an MRI? Have you had one of those? We like to think that HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protects us here in the US. But increasingly ... It doesn't.

So over the next few weeks, we'll talk about who's collecting your medical information, how they're using it, and who they're sharing it with. And this series is wild because we're not only talking about pictures of that funny-looking mole you have. We're talking about the neural patterns of your brain and how it acts as you make decisions in Virtual Reality.

First things first, though: This week, we're going to look at services like MyChart, Phreesia, and the MANY doctor's offices that utilize Facebook's Tracking Pixel on their website.

We'll tell you how to stop these companies from collecting and sharing your data, and then we'll explain why you want to do that.

I mean, unless you want a generative AI like Chat GPT3 to be looking at photos of your favorite private parts and drawing some really interesting conclusions to share with others. (A real thing that's already happened.)

Also, In Today's Episode ...

BJ Speaks with Matthew D Green at John Hopkins University Information Security Institute to follow up on our previous episode concerning "The Cloud" and why you shouldn't put your important stuff in there.

Resources Mentioned In Today’s Show
-Email Privacy@Phreesia.com to opt out of their data collection
-Call your doctor's office to see what data is being shared and collected on you by companies like My Chart and request to opt out.
-Use the Tor Browser when visiting any websites related to managing your health care.
-Use PimEyes to see who is using pictures of your face.
-Use the pictures found by PimEyes to search HaveIBeenTrained.com to make sure your photos aren't being used to train generative AIs like ChatGPT3
-Request Clearview AI remove any pictures they have on you here.
-BJMendelson.com's Data Opt-Out Request List

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*Affiliate Link: 1Password.com
*Affiliate Link: Delete Me

Get Your Privacy Notebook: Get your Leuchtturm1917 Official Bullet Journal here.

*Using these affiliate links helps to support the show and do not cost you anything extra to use. If you like the show, we encourage you to use these links to sign-up for must have services like 1Password and Delete Me.

And before we go ...

Thanks to the interview in Slate, we're overwhelmed with requests for Privacy Audits.

So!

We want to let you know BJ and Amanda are recording a two-hour video course that you can purchase.

The course will include every step from the privacy audit and examples of how to put those steps into practice.

If you'd like to know when the course is available, email BJ at BJMendelson@Duck.com with Privacy Course in the subject line.

The "Cloud" has a bigger carbon footprint than the entire airline industry. It's also not secure. So if someone wants to mess with you, or worse, blackmail you after accessing your iCloud, GDrive, or Dropbox data? They absolutely can. Instead, we want you to go old school. So this week, Rosie explains why you want to get a nice external hard drive, encrypt a folder or the entire drive, and save your stuff there.

Resources Mentioned In Today’s Show
-Veracrypt (Wired's article on how to use it)
-Toshiba Canvio Flex External HD (Portable)
-Seagate Backup Plus Hub External HD (NOT portable. This drive needs to be plugged in.)
-Tresorit
-ProtonDrive (comes with a ProtonMail account, which we recommended here in a previous episode.)
TP Link AX3000 Router

Also In This Episode ...

This episode also contains the last part of BJ's first book on privacy — written back in 2017 — as read by Broadway actor Roger Wayne. After this week, every remaining episode will include an interview with a privacy and security expert!

Our Sponsor: DuckDuckGo

Affiliate Link: 1Password.com

Get Your Privacy Notebook: Get your Leuchtturm1917 Official Bullet Journal here.

And before we go ...

Thanks to the interview in Slate, we're overwhelmed with requests for Privacy Audits.

So!

We want to let you know BJ and Amanda are recording a two-hour video course that you can purchase.

The course will include every step from the privacy audit and examples of how to put those steps into practice.

If you'd like to know when the course is available, email BJ at BJMendelson@Duck.com with Privacy Course in the subject line.

Photo Credit: Karolina Grabowska

Writer and Co-Producer of Star Trek: Prodigy, Aaron Waltke joins BJ on the show to talk about the hit animated series and ... The Brave Little Toaster? What?

Yes. The Brave Little Toaster. But you'll have to listen to this week's episode to find out what's going on there.

In addition to "Prodigy", BJ and Aaron also talk about how Aaron bonded with his Dad over Star Trek, working hard to make "Prodigy" stand on its own feet, and how studying psychology informed his writing.

Great episode to listen to. So don't miss it.