How to Improve Your Online Privacy and Security – Guide
When using the Internet, good and bad habits are formed that affect your privacy and security online. For example, using your Facebook profile to log into other online accounts is a bad habit. On the other hand, it’s a good habit to regularly check your Facebook account’s privacy settings and enable features as two-factor authentication. Good habits protect your online privacy and strengthen your security, while bad habits put you at risk. Learn to control your online behavior and change it by adding some healthy practices to your online activities. Whether it’s the annoying ads that haunt your internet searches or the spam that lands in your email inbox and makes you think twice about your online privacy, it’s never too late to make a change. Below are some tips you can use to become a better internet user and protect your privacy online.
How to improve your online privacy and security
Limit the personal information you share on social media
A smart way to protect your privacy online? Do not share too much information on social media. If you provide too much information on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, cybercriminals can more easily obtain identity data that will allow them to steal your identity or access your financial information. For example, could an identity thief discover your high school mascot or your mother’s maiden name by logging into your Facebook account? This information is sometimes used as security questions to change financial account passwords. To protect your privacy online, ignore the “About Me” fields on your social media profiles. You don’t have to tell anyone what year or place you were born, which can make you an easier target for identity theft. Also try different privacy settings. You may want to limit the group of people who can see your posts to only those you have personally invited. Also, create strong passwords for your social media profiles to prevent others from logging in on your behalf. This means that you must use a combination of at least 12 numbers, special characters, and uppercase and lowercase letters.
Surf in private mode
If you don’t want your computer to save your browsing history, temporary Internet files or cookies, browse in private mode. Web browsers offer their own versions of this form of privacy protection. In Chrome, it’s called incognito mode. Firefox calls its setting Private Browsing and Internet Explorer uses the name InPrivate Browsing for your privacy feature. When you browse with these modes, other people cannot track your browsing history from your computer. However, these private modes are not completely private. If you search in incognito mode or in private mode, your internet service provider (ISP) will still be able to see your browsing activity. If you search on a company computer, your employer can do the same. You may also be tracked by the websites you visit. So yes, incognito browsing has certain advantages. But it is far from the only tool that can help you protect your privacy on the Internet.
Use another search engine
If you are like many internet users, you trust Google a lot as your search engine. But you don’t have to. Privacy protection is one of the reasons why people prefer to use anonymous search engines. This type of search engine does not collect or share your search history or clicks. Anonymous search engines may also block advertising trackers on websites you visit.
Use a virtual private network
A virtual private network (VPN) provides online privacy and anonymity by turning a public Internet connection into a private network. VPNs mask your IP (Internet Protocol) address, making your online activity virtually untraceable. Using a VPN is especially important if you use public Wi-Fi in a library, coffee shop, or other public place. With a VPN, it becomes more difficult for cybercriminals to invade your online privacy and access your personal information.
Be careful where you click
One of the methods hackers use to compromise your online privacy is phishing attempts. In phishing, scammers try to trick you to disclose valuable financial or personal information. This is usually done through fake emails that appear to be from banks, credit card companies, or other financial institutions. These emails often say that you need to click on a link and confirm your financial information to prevent your account from being frozen or closed. Don’t fall for these scams. If you click on a phishing link, you may be redirected to a fake website that looks like the home page of a bank or financial institution. However, when you enter your account details, you send them to the scammers behind the phishing attempt. Before clicking on suspicious links, hover your mouse cursor over the link to see the destination URL. If it doesn’t match the financial website you are using, don’t click on it.
Use two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication can be annoying, but it definitely makes your accounts more secure. Two-factor authentication means you have to go through another layer of authentication, not just a username and password, to access your accounts. If the data or personal information in an account is confidential or valuable and the account offers two-factor authentication, you must enable it. Gmail, Evernote and Dropbox are some examples of online services that offer two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication verifies your identity using at least two different forms of authentication: something you are, something you have, or something you know. Something you know is, of course, the password. Something you are could mean authentication with fingerprint or facial recognition. Something you have could be your cell phone phone. You may be asked to enter a code sent via text message or tap a confirmation button on a mobile application. Something you have could also be a physical security key; Google and Microsoft announced a push for this type of authentication.
Pay with your smartphone
The credit card usage system is outdated and not very secure. This is not your fault, but you can do something about it. Instead of pulling out your old credit card, you can use Apple Pay or an Android equivalent on the go. When it comes to apps, there’s a lot to choose from. Context up your smartphone as a payment method is usually a simple process. It usually starts with a photo of the credit card you want to use to secure your app-based payments. This pretty much completes the setup – done. Point-of-sale terminals that support smartphone payments often indicate this with an icon that ranges from an image of a hand holding a smartphone to a stylized representation of a radio wave. Just place your device on the terminal, authenticate with a fingerprint and you’ve paid.
Clear your cache
Never underestimate how much your browser’s cache knows about you. Saved cookies, saved search queries and web history may point to your address, family information and other personal data. To better protect this information that may be dormant in your web history, you should regularly clear your browser cookies and clear your browsing history. It’s easy to do. In Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera, just press Ctrl+Shift+Del to bring up up a dialog box where you can select which browser data items you want to delete. Deleting cookies may cause problems on some websites as the personalization you have made may be lost. Most browsers allow you to create a list of preferred websites whose cookies should not be deleted.
Final note
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