How mindful are you? Check in with yourself while researching on the greater Web. It’s rough out there.

Questions we scholars (students and teachers alike) should ask ourselves. A short checklist:

While searching–

Are you checking in with yourself every 20 minutes ?

Are you assessing your own vulnerability / self state?

Do you feel over-immersed or over engaged? 

If you feel you want more protection from trackers: Are you using a search engine like DuckDuck Go for personal searches, rather than Chrome?

Are you practicing Data Dignity and Privacy Activism (DAPA) or PSA (psychological safety awareness)? 

(I made these term up.) Here are some more questions to ask yourself:

Do you have a VPN?

Are you using a browser like Brave (that catches trackers), or Safari (with Apple’s iCloud Relay** activated) rather than Chrome?

What Plug-Ins are you employing? For instance: 

Are you blocking ads (if that is your preference) and or 

“badgering” advertisers?

Rejecting marketing cookies?

Are you feeling protected from fingerprinting?

Have you created email aliases for Online research, et al?