We’ve already covered this kind of thing once or twice, but it bears repeating—and besides, we’ve got more things for you.  All of the programs and tools listed below are free except where noted, many of them are open source (meaning anyone who understands code can verify that there are no nasty surprises or holes in it), and they have been personally tested by some of us here at VG.  In my next article I’ll explain why you need to be using privacy, and answer some of the more common objections, including the “But I don’t do anything that I need to hide!” (I’ll give you a hint: if that’s your excuse for not protecting your privacy, then you are part of the reason why the rest of us choose to.)  But never mind all that, let’s talk about how you can fix the problem and get off the federal radar—or at least make them work for the info they’re stealing. LOTS more after the fold.