I like to think I’m a strong millennial woman who gets shit done, but really I couldn’t do much without you holding my hand through these processes, Emily! Thank you so much for all your work!!!
There's *so much* information it's like drinking from a firehose - thanks for always having actionable recommendations! I'd love to chat more about being more critical consumers of data points and charts. Some charts are obviously misleading (truncated axes, missing information) but others mislead us and shape our beliefs in sneakier ways that we need to watch out for.
Always! One of the findings from our Data Viz Society State of Data Viz survey (focused on hearing from data viz creators) was that gaps in data literacy/chart literacy was the biggest challenge in our field today. Alberto Cairo's book How Charts Lie is a great resource on being better chart readers, written not just for data people.
Do parents of trans kids need to do anything extra to protect their private info? I’ve always been careful about what I say about my child online and recently had their homeschool group stop posting photos of my child in our private group. All medical providers only use the pronouns that match my child’s gender assigned at birth. I’m always nervous that I’m not doing enough to protect my child with the new administration.
Hi Emily, thank you for the list! I’ve also heard it’s a good idea to go in and print your SSA information including your balance paid into it and estimated payout. Thoughts?
yes! That is (5). I did that last week and I hadn't even known it was possible to go in and see this info, and TBH I found it super interesting. Makes you more excited about saving social security.
I tried to check my SSA account last week and discovered I don't have an online account. I was wary of setting one up given that Musk's interns are in there messing around - is there any privacy risk to creating an online account if I don't have one yet? Thank you, this newsletter was super helpful.
Thank you, as always, Emily! I have been internally freaking out and, per usual, your newsletter and content comes in like a breath of calm air with actionable items to help me actually do something to protect myself/my family in this hellscape.
I don’t know the answer to this but would it make a difference (especially if per Vance’s recent tweet the exec starts ignoring the judges) there were more people literally in the streets protesting? I recently saw a headline (maybe from the Times) that said something to the effect of the prez marching forward because there’s quiet in the streets. What do you think?
I think marches are only effective when there is a specific outcome requested. My sense is that when there is a big SCOTUS decision handing ridiculous power to Trump/ or an obvious moment when they are ignoring scotus, people will galvanize and there will be enough public will to drive Republican political action.
Thank you for this, Emily! I have also started using NextDNS to stop ad/location tracking on my devices. There's a free option or it's $20/year, and there are plenty of resources available for how to easily set it up.
Thank you, Emily! I work for a large bank, and we have our Townhall tomorrow. I am going to ask directly about number eight, what they plan to do to protect their customers and employees against a potential data breach, and how they plan to communicate it. Appreciate the reminder.
Thanks for this, Emily! I tried to call Capital One and ask what they are doing in this specific instance--not much traction there. Do you have thoughts about how to get the word out to the bigger financial institutions? Is it closing your account with them if they can't give you an answer?
Thanks Emily, these are great tips and mostly easy to accomplish.
As far as people you should talk to, I would love for you to have a conversation with Jamelle Bouie. I don't know if he does that sort of thing, but his writing and social media have long been among my favorites and I bet you'd have a great discussion.
Thank you, Emily! I've been working through your pre-inauguration checklist over the last two weeks. My financial planner also recommended a credit freeze, so I finally did that today. I don't have control over much, but I can do my best to get my own house in order and keep my data safe!
I like to think I’m a strong millennial woman who gets shit done, but really I couldn’t do much without you holding my hand through these processes, Emily! Thank you so much for all your work!!!
💕💕
Thank you Emily for measured and actionable steps we can take. Appreciate what you do!!!
TYSM!!!!
Proton has recently issued public statements in support of Trump and the Republican Party.
https://theintercept.com/2025/01/28/proton-mail-andy-yen-trump-republicans/
Anyone have a recommendation other than proton mail? Looking to make a switch from Gmail
Ughhhhh, that is so gross, thank you for the heads up
There's *so much* information it's like drinking from a firehose - thanks for always having actionable recommendations! I'd love to chat more about being more critical consumers of data points and charts. Some charts are obviously misleading (truncated axes, missing information) but others mislead us and shape our beliefs in sneakier ways that we need to watch out for.
Correcting disinfo is much harder than making it! lol
Always! One of the findings from our Data Viz Society State of Data Viz survey (focused on hearing from data viz creators) was that gaps in data literacy/chart literacy was the biggest challenge in our field today. Alberto Cairo's book How Charts Lie is a great resource on being better chart readers, written not just for data people.
Do parents of trans kids need to do anything extra to protect their private info? I’ve always been careful about what I say about my child online and recently had their homeschool group stop posting photos of my child in our private group. All medical providers only use the pronouns that match my child’s gender assigned at birth. I’m always nervous that I’m not doing enough to protect my child with the new administration.
Hi Emily, thank you for the list! I’ve also heard it’s a good idea to go in and print your SSA information including your balance paid into it and estimated payout. Thoughts?
yes! That is (5). I did that last week and I hadn't even known it was possible to go in and see this info, and TBH I found it super interesting. Makes you more excited about saving social security.
I tried to check my SSA account last week and discovered I don't have an online account. I was wary of setting one up given that Musk's interns are in there messing around - is there any privacy risk to creating an online account if I don't have one yet? Thank you, this newsletter was super helpful.
Also wondering this!
Ugh so sorry for missing that one!
SSA used to mail statements each year....haven't gotten a paper statement from the SSA in like a decade?
Thank you, as always, Emily! I have been internally freaking out and, per usual, your newsletter and content comes in like a breath of calm air with actionable items to help me actually do something to protect myself/my family in this hellscape.
I don’t know the answer to this but would it make a difference (especially if per Vance’s recent tweet the exec starts ignoring the judges) there were more people literally in the streets protesting? I recently saw a headline (maybe from the Times) that said something to the effect of the prez marching forward because there’s quiet in the streets. What do you think?
I think marches are only effective when there is a specific outcome requested. My sense is that when there is a big SCOTUS decision handing ridiculous power to Trump/ or an obvious moment when they are ignoring scotus, people will galvanize and there will be enough public will to drive Republican political action.
Thank you for this, Emily! I have also started using NextDNS to stop ad/location tracking on my devices. There's a free option or it's $20/year, and there are plenty of resources available for how to easily set it up.
thank you for this! I appreciate your work so much!
Thank you, Emily! I work for a large bank, and we have our Townhall tomorrow. I am going to ask directly about number eight, what they plan to do to protect their customers and employees against a potential data breach, and how they plan to communicate it. Appreciate the reminder.
Thanks for this, Emily! I tried to call Capital One and ask what they are doing in this specific instance--not much traction there. Do you have thoughts about how to get the word out to the bigger financial institutions? Is it closing your account with them if they can't give you an answer?
Firefox is another browser with many privacy features and a lot of good extensions.
Thanks Emily, these are great tips and mostly easy to accomplish.
As far as people you should talk to, I would love for you to have a conversation with Jamelle Bouie. I don't know if he does that sort of thing, but his writing and social media have long been among my favorites and I bet you'd have a great discussion.
Thank you so much for these actionable steps, I so appreciate you!!
Thank you, Emily! I've been working through your pre-inauguration checklist over the last two weeks. My financial planner also recommended a credit freeze, so I finally did that today. I don't have control over much, but I can do my best to get my own house in order and keep my data safe!
Shared! Thank you, Emily!