03) Tracking - the hows, whys and whos of tracking

Tracking

Goal: to understand what tracking is; who tracks us, how they track us, and why they track us.


The series of four videos below (posted on YouTube) give an introduction to tracking. The videos mainly discuss tracking through cell phones to introduce a large subject. Tracking is also done in other ways, though using many of the same whos and whys, and even some similar hows.

This series of four videos was posted by a user called AJ+.

"AJ+ partners with the interactive documentary series Do Not Track to take a closer look at your cellphone. Your apps share a lot of the private info on your phone with marketing agencies, phone operators and others. Where does all that data go, and what happens with it?"

How Apps Access Your Private Information – Do Not Track (Part 1)

Google Is Tracking Your Every Move – Do Not Track (Part 2)

Would You Give Up Your Kid For Free WiFi? – Do Not Track (Part 3)

Who's Really In Control Of Your Phone? – Do Not Track (Part 4)


Watch the four videos. If there are terms or concepts mentioned in them that you do not understand, write them down and either look them up later or you can ask me about them.

02) Links - on webpages and in emails

Links - a quick glance

Goal: learn to check where a link will actually take you before you click on it.


Link (a Simple English Wikipedia article) - "The person who makes the web page can tell the computer to show a word or a picture on the Web page as a link. This means that when we click on the link with our computer mouse, the computer will show us the new page we want to see. Most links are blue, but they can be any color."


Notice that the word "Link" above is actually a link. If you click on it, you will be sent to the page to which the link points. In this case, it will send you to an article titled "Link" in the Simple English Wikipedia.

The question arises, how do you know where a link will send you? Is there a way to tell before clicking on the link above that it will take you to the stated destination? The answer is yes.

Put your mouse over the linked word "Link" above. Don't click it, just put your mouse over it. While your mouse is over it, look at the bottom left or right of your screen. What do you see? You should see the actual address of the page to which you will be sent (It should be this: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link). Does the address at the bottom of the screen suggest to you that you will in fact be sent to the Wikipedia article I said? (Yes, it should suggest it to you.)

Why are we even considering this matter? It is easy for someone to send you to a malicious site from what appears to be a friendly link. For example: Check out this Friendly Link. With a label like "Friendly Link" it should be a nice friendly site. However, when you put your mouse over it, what URL (another name for a web address) actually appears? The URL http://www.internetbadguys.com/ is actually a demo phishing site (not a real phishing site, in this case).


I want to send you to the homepage of an alternative DNS service provider named OpenDNS. Which of the two following links do you think will take you there, and which one will take you somewhere else? The first link - OpenDNS, or the second link - OpenDNS. If you put your mouse over the first link, you will see by the URL at the bottom of the screen that it would take you to a webpage by SimplyNoise called Simply Rain. If you check the second link, you will see by the URL that it would take you to the OpenDNS homepage. You can now click on each link. The label for each is the same, but they take you to two different sites.


Again, knowing and using this can be helpful on webpages and in emails. This is more important if you are on a site you are unfamiliar with, or if you receive an email with links you are not sure of.

01) Web Browsers - Privacy Settings

Web Browsers - Privacy Settings (and more)

Goal: Become familiar with web browser settings, and how these affect security and privacy.


FIREFOX - This web browser belongs to Mozilla. Their products include Firefox (a web browser), Thunderbird (an email client), and Firefox OS (an operating system for smart phones). Firefox (web browser) works on Windows, Mac and Linux. Mozilla also created Firefox versions for Android phones and tablets, and Apple devices (e.g. iPhone, iPad). So, Firefox is a "Cross-Platform" program.

For this lesson, I will deal with the desktop/laptop version of Firefox. For support or help with other versions of Firefox (e.g. Firefox on an Android Phone), see the Mozilla Support page. You can find help in the Firefox - Help Topics page (help for desktop/laptop version), particularly the Protect Your Privacy section.

WHAT TO DO:

In Firefox, open the Firefox Preferences (see the three horizontal lines on the far right). See on the left the different categories of settings.

General - You can change the start page and the home page. More importantly (at least to me), the download setting can be changed. Most browsers are set to place anything downloaded into your "Downloads" folder. For most people, that is perhaps the best option. However, I do not store or save everything in my "Downloads" folder. I tell my web browsers to "Always ask me where to save files."

Search - You can choose your default search engine. Look through the search engines currently available in the drop-down list. Some search engines offer more privacy than others (perhaps this will be considered in another post).

Content - Make sure the "Block pop-up windows" box is checked.

Privacy - Under "History," the default setting is "Remember History." Change this to "Use Custom Settings for History". Then, I check the following boxes: "Remember my browsing and download history"; "Remember search and form history"; "Accept cookies from sites". Then, I "Accept third-party cookies [always]" and "Keep until [they expire]". Then I check "Clear history when Firefox closes" and click on the "Settings..." button to the right. Check every box in the "Settings for clearing history" pop-up that opens.

Security - Make sure that you un-check both "Remember logins for sites" and "Use a master password". This tells Firefox not to remember your passwords for websites. This prevents someone else, using your computer, to login to your website accounts.

Close the "Preferences" tab.

Press [control] [shift] [delete]. A "clear all history" box will pop-up. I choose "everything" as the time range to clear,  check all the boxes, then press "clear now." Why is this important? Rather than shutting down the web browser to clear things after visiting a banking site, I use this option.

Clearing the browsing history is helpful in at least two ways. It erases the many temporary files from surfing the web that would normally be stored on your hard drive. Over time, they can add up to gigabytes of wasted space. It also can clear files from the web that may be used to track you or worse.

BE CAREFUL: If you are doing all this on your own computer, that is fine. Be cautious of doing all this on someone else's computer. If they don't remember their passwords and haven't written them down somewhere, it would create difficulties if you cleared their passwords (part of the cache and cookies) to websites they use.

PRIVATE BROWSING - If you must use someone else's computer to check your email, or some other website that would require a login with username and password, it is better to open a "New Private Window" and do your business in that window. When you finish and close the private window, your information will not be saved on that computer. Read the short Firefox help article titled, "Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history". Note that Safari calls them "Private Windows" also, but Chrome calls them "Incognito Windows". If there is some concern that someone's computer has a virus, do not login with username and password to a site on that computer.

Open a Private Window.


CHROME - This is a web browser created by Google. I use Firefox as my default web browser. For logging into my Gmail accounts, I use Chrome. Below are some links that may be helpful in dealing with Chrome.
Chrome (Chromium on Linux operating system)
Chrome Help Center
Security, safety, and reporting - category in the help center
Choose your privacy settings
Manage Saved Passwords
Adjust website content settings
Browse in private with Incognito mode

WHAT TO DO:

In Chrome, open the settings (see the three vertical dots on the right). When you first open the settings, you will find that there are only five categories.

Search - You can choose your default search engine in Chrome.

Then at the bottom click on "Show advanced settings...". More categories will appear.

Privacy - Notice the two buttons, "Content settings..." and "Clear browsing data...". Look through these. Notice that Chrome does not have an option that allows you to automatically clear browsing data when you close Chrome.

Clear the browsing history.

Open an incognito window.


SAFARI

Safari (on Apple computers)
Safari Support
Safari Help - This is a very helpful page for finding help
Safari for Mac: Clear your Safari browsing history
Safari for Mac: Manage cookies and website data using Safari
Stop pop-up ads in Safari
Use Private Browsing windows

WHAT TO DO:

In Safari, open the preferences. Look through the various setting options. Clear the browsing history. Open a private browsing window.

Two questions touching the nature of God which arise from the story found in Genesis 32:24-32

Two Questions Touching the Nature of God

Which arise from the story found in Genesis 32:24-32:

With Whom Did Jacob Wrestle?

Why Was This Being Unable to Prevail Against Jacob?

THE STORY

Genesis 32:24-32 [24] Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. [25] When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, the man touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained as he wrestled. [26] The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.” [27] He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”. [28] He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.” [29] Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” He blessed him there. [30] Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” [31] The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh. [32] Therefore the children of Israel don’t eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

INTRODUCTION

This story brings up one question that in this lifetime may not have a complete solution. With whom did Jacob wrestle? Did he wrestle with a man, with an angel, with God? The story points to this man being more than a man. This may then lead to another question. If the man was more than a man, either an angel or God, how is it that he didn't prevail against Jacob? What kind of God (whether himself or one of his angels) would be unable to prevail against a mere mortal? (For it is generally assumed, and reasonably so, that Jacob is a mortal and not a god or demi-god such as is found in the Greek myths.) In this article I will argue that Jacob wrestled with a man that was also much more than a man. I will also answer the second question such that God is exalted as God, not simply in spite of this not prevailing against Jacob, but because of this.

FIRST QUESTION

With whom did Jacob wrestle? The story begins by stating that Jacob wrestled with a man. This man was a real physical being that could be touched and could touch. He could hear and speak.

This man is presented as being more that a man as well. He touches the hollow of Jacob's thigh and is it strained (or put out of joint according to some translations) such that Jacob limped because of it (v.31) and the remembrance of this is passed on to his descendants in the form of a dietary regulation (v.32). When this man is asked for his name, he does not give it, but seems to imply that it should be obvious to Jacob who he is. The scriptures testify that the greater blesses the lesser (Hebrews7:7). This places this man on a higher lever (whether human or divine) than Jacob. Afterward the event was over, Jacob called the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), saying “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Jacob clearly believed he had wrestled with God.

This man changed Jacob's name to Israel. He said to Jacob, “You have fought with God and with men and have prevailed” (v.28). This can be taken to mean that in this particular event, Jacob was in fact wrestling with God in the form of a man. Perhaps a more likely meaning of this is that Jacob had previously prevailed against men in various struggles and conflicts, and now in this struggle he had prevailed against God.

We see that Jacob wrestled with a man who was more than a man. Who was it? Was he wrestling with an angel as a representative or authoritative ambassador of God? This is very possible, and would not be the first time nor the last time in the history of God's people that an angel (often referred to as the “Angel of the Lord”) appeared to one or more of God's people in such a way that it was described as God appearing (for example, see Judges13:19-23) to them.

However, if it was not an angel with whom Jacob wrestled, then it seems the only other possibility is that he wrestled with God in the flesh. While this seems a strange thought, it is also not the first time that God appeared in the flesh to his people (for example, see Genesis18:1-33, note verse 22), nor is it the last time. At a later time, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah7:14) of a man who would be called Immanuel (which means “God with us”). Though his own teaching, through signs and wonders, through the teaching of the apostles, Jesus is shown to be both God in the flesh (consider John1:1-14). *

While arguments can be made for either possibility, Moses does not make this clear to us in his record of this event, and thus I do not feel compelled to offer (or even think it best to offer) a definitive opinion on the matter. It is clear that Jacob wrestled with a man that was much more than a man, either God in the flesh or an angel in the form or a man as a representative of God.

This conclusion leads to the …

SECOND QUESTION

This question concerns the power, and thus the nature, of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The question could be simplified into something like this: How is it that God (or even his angel) could not prevail against Jacob (a man) in a wrestling match? One might even dare to shorten it further to the questions: Is God weak? How could a man be stronger than God? However, I will focus on the first question, as that is a question that comes more directly from the story at hand. How is it that God (or even his angel) could not prevail against Jacob (a man) in a wrestling match?

This second question begins as, “how is it that God COULD not prevail against Jacob?” Looking at the story again, we find that the question is not an accurate question. The story does not tell us that God COULD not prevail against Jacob, it merely tells us that God DID not prevail against Jacob (v.25). While DID not might include the idea of COULD not, it does not necessarily include it. In this case, I think it is quite reasonable to conclude that God DID not prevail even though he was quite able to prevail. The creation and maintenance of the world, along with the mighty works performed by God as recorded in the history of God with his people, both of these lead me to accept that God was, is, and always will be almighty.

Now the second question has become, “Though God COULD prevail against Jacob, how is it that he DID not prevail against Jacob?” This really is two questions: 1) How could God be such that he might not prevail over a man? 2) Why would God become such that he might not prevail over a man?

HOW

With the first question, we have seen that God is able to come to men in the form of a man. Taking on such a form for the sake of appearing to men does not (in a sense) necessitate losing all that makes God God, including his power, but may require concealing some of the visible things of God.

WHY

The greater question (in my opinion) is why would God become such that he might not prevail over a man. God is our creator. He is able to create us. He is also able to destroy us. Yet, he delights not in destroying his creation, but delights in seeing his creation change and grow, from bad to good, and from better to best (as stated by Ezekiel in Ezekiel18:23,32; 33:11).

Brute force is not a father's main tool in raising his children. Wisdom, discipline and instruction are much more useful, particularly when brought to a level that the child can understand. When employed properly, and received, properly, such instruction and discipline can help raise that child up to a higher level. The prophets, Jesus, and the apostles spoke of God as the Father. (Consider that God has not learned from the example of earthly fathers, but it is the best earthly fathers that have learned from the example of God.) He deals with men both as individuals and as communities at their level in order to raise them out of their condition to a better level. So this is the answer to the why. Why would God become such that he might not prevail over a man?

In this story of Jacob wrestling with a man, God deals with Jacob on Jacob's level. God does not appear in all the awesome power and glory of God, but comes as a man, a man like Jacob. God values perseverance and endurance in his children (consider Matthew24:13), particularly in connection with obtaining the goal God would have us reach. Will Jacob persevere? How much does Jacob want the blessing? God, as a man, pushes Jacob to his (Jacob's) limit. Most people would give up before now, but not Jacob. God saw that he didn't prevail against him. I think God was pleased that Jacob was so committed to gaining the blessing. Jacob does receive the blessing. He comes out of this event changed for the better. This is a transition in Jacob's life. God showed his awesome power not in crushing a man, but in changing a man. God showed his strength not with brute force but with a meekness that can touch the heart of a man. King David wrote to God, “Your gentleness makes me great” (Psalm18:35).

Understanding this brings us to …

ONE LAST QUESTION

God desires that all men would turn from their sin to God's ways, and live (live forever). Jacob wanted that blessing. He fought and wrestled for it. When it became more difficult, he still held on. He wanted the blessing. What about you? Do you want the blessing of eternal life? Will you wrestle and strive with God? When it becomes difficult will you give up, or will you still hold on until you have gained life at last, until you hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”?

We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end,

that you won’t be sluggish,

but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherited the promises.

Hebrews 6:11-12

FOOTNOTES

*1 For more information concerning appearances of God to men in the Bible, I recommend the two brief articles below found on the GotQuestions?org website:

Whatis a theophany? What is a Christophany?

Has anyone everseen God?

Scripture references taken from the WEB unless otherwise noted.