We’re thrilled to share the news that Consumer Reports (CR) has agreed to become the steward of the Security Planner project, carrying the torch forward on Citizen Lab’s excellent work these past years.
Security Planner is a free, easy-to-use guide to staying safer online. It provides personalized recommendations and expert advice on online security practices, adjusting common privacy settings, and choosing products and services that protect your privacy and security. It’s fast and free.
You can check out the new Security Planner at https://securityplanner.org. Working with Yael Grauer, we’ve updated and expanded Security Planner with 17 new recommendations — totaling 48 in all — as well as a new design and a foundation for future product features, such as helping users track progress on their personalized plan and getting extra help.
Huge thanks to Matt Braga, John Scott Ralton, Ron Diebert, and the whole team at Citizen Lab for building Security Planner, and for putting their trust in CR to carry it forward. When Citizen Lab launched Security Planner in 2017, Ron wrote:
“Two shortcomings in many popular digital security guides are that they may not be regularly updated and often include inaccessible or idiosyncratic recommendations that may not be useful to everyone. By keeping it up-to-date and providing accessible advice from an expert peer review group, Security Planner will raise the security bar for average Internet users on an ongoing basis.”
We think CR x Security Planner is a great combination. Since 1936, CR has been independent, expert driven, and focused on helping people make good choices. And with the establishment of our Digital Lab, we’re ramping up research and reporting on digital rights and security issues.
Security Planner will be updated regularly in its new home at CR, by CR’s experts and with input from privacy and security expert community more broadly. The tool will remain free and open to anyone to use, and no company will ever exercise influence over our recommendations of products or services.
Please check out Security Planner and share your feedback. And if you like it, please share with family and friends!
