A heartfelt thank you from liberty central to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for its Surveillance Self-Defence website, which aims to educate the public about "the law and technology of government surveillance ... [as well as] providing the information and tools necessary to evaluate the threat of surveillance and take appropriate steps to defend against it."

Although much of the legal advice is only applicable to American readers – fingers crossed EFF Europe produces EU-wide and British versions soon – the details on what information is stored about you by third parties, such as your ISP and telephone providers, is relevant to British citizens.

The practical technical advice will be an essential read for investigative journalists, who have expressed concern that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the communications traffic superdatabase could impede their ability to protect sources. It details how to securely delete your files or how to use encryption to protect private communications, including emails and instant messages.

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