Hi, I’m Jonah 👋

Jonah Aragon creates educational resources that help people understand the importance of privacy and security on the internet, and take back control over their digital lives.

He is known for his work on the Techlore YouTube channel, including the Techlore Talks podcast he co-hosts, and the Privacy Guides non-profit website.

Oct 30, 2022

In Defense of Internet Anonymity

Despite its occasional abuse, anonymity online is a valuable privilege that cannot be given up nor taken for granted. In Techlore Talks #4, Henry and I discussed freedom of speech, anonymity on the internet, and the content moderation policies of online platforms. Certainly these are hot topics in this day and age, precisely because there are no clear-cut answers. In the episode, Henry posed the idea of a theoretical platform on the internet with strict identity verification, an idea which I feel has some merit: Anonymity online is too often abused in the modern day by malicious actors to spread disinformation and hateful ideas while skirting any potential consequences....

Oct 28, 2022

The Struggle of Moderating the Internet (Techlore Talks 4)

Social media moderation, deplatforming, freedom of speech, internet anonymity, and more! Welcome to Techlore Talks 4: where we unpack privacy & security concepts in free-form discussions! Listen on Substack Listen on YouTube 00:00 Introduction 00:55 Our stances on social media moderation 03:48 Do we have a right to be on social media services? 05:40 Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences 08:59 How anonymity impacts our behavior on the internet...

Oct 27, 2022

New Privacy and Security Features in macOS 13 Ventura

macOS Ventura was released this week, and the Apple users among us may be interested in the improvements it brings to your personal privacy and security. We always recommend running the most up-to-date version of your operating system available. Updates add privacy and security improvements all the time—and macOS Ventura is no exception. Some notable new additions to the macOS privacy ecosystem include: Lockdown Mode Rapid Security Responses Passkeys Let’s venture in and see what these updates will mean for you....

Oct 25, 2022

Brief Statement Regarding PrivacyTools.io

At some point, Marco Wollank, the operator of the “PrivacyTools.io” website, published a defamatory blog post entitled: “Jonah Aragon’s (PrivacyGuides) Failed Attempt to Takeover PrivacyTools.io” The allegations presented in that blog post are completely false, and I am considering pursuing legal action. Additionally, I left PrivacyTools in October 2020. The rest of the PrivacyTools team left to join me at Privacy Guides nearly a year later on their own accord. The only reason he blames me specifically is because he is so out of touch that he probably wasn’t even aware of everyone else that had been giving him free website content for years....

Oct 9, 2022

Cognitive Dissonance & Confirmation Bias (Techlore Talks 3)

How do cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias fit into privacy, security, FOSS, tech, and the world today? You all asked for more free-form, and here it is! Listen on Substack Listen on YouTube

Oct 1, 2022

Is Facebook Finally Dying? (Techlore Talks 2)

Is Facebook finally dying? Is the current ad revenue model possible without invading user data? Can FOSS projects be successful financially? Listen on Substack Listen on YouTube

Sep 25, 2022

What is the deal with PrivacyTools?

If you don’t like drama, feel free to ignore this whole post. It’s honestly a very boring topic that nobody besides terminally online people with an axe to grind will care about, however because I continue to be asked about this topic anyways, I had to publish this for future reference. An extended version of this page was originally published on Privacy Guides to clear up misinformation being spread by the project currently known as PrivacyTools....

Sep 14, 2022

Unpacking the iOS 16 Privacy/Security Hype (Techlore Talks 1)

What’s new in iOS 16, iPhone 14, and what does it mean for privacy & security? Welcome to the first edition of our new weekly series - Techlore Talks. Leave feedback, we’ve love to hear! Listen on Substack Listen on YouTube 00:00 Introduction to Techlore Talks 01:00 Our iOS 16 Experiences 02:15 iOS 16 Feature Updates 02:28 iOS 16 Feature Updates - Lock Screen 05:34 iOS 16 Feature Updates - iMessage Updates...