(Newswire.net — June 20, 2013) Portland, OR — There are plenty of incentives for those who wish to track your habits. Your personal data to them is a financial goldmine!
But you better move fast if you want to better protect your online activity from being harvested by high tech privacy and piracy thieves.
Tech analyst firm, Ovum, has described the next “big thing” as a phenomenon known as ‘Big Data;’ information and statistics being collected about online practices of users. Private hackers and snoops collect your personal information and use advanced algorithms to predict your lifetime wages, how you respond to private medical concerns, and even for whom you are likely to vote in the next election.
This kind of activity raises the question over who exactly is using such records for their personal gain. The days are long gone when only paranoid nut cases worried about being watched online. Now ist seems that online snooping of everyday law-abiding citizens is now par for the course.
Get a jump on bashing the surveillance beast following these simple steps.
1. Switch your browser from Internet Explorrer to Firefox or Google Chrome
Both of these web browsers are quite easy to install and use. Internet Explorer lacks the ability to implement security extensions effectively and has a history of being generally insecure. Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are as simple to use as Internet Explorer but provide much more security, speed, and even allow for using other valuable extensions to enhance the browser. You can download these at www.google.com/chrome and www.mozilla.org/firefox.
2.Install the AdBlock Plus Extension
Adblock Plus blocks all sorts of advertising on the web, as well as protecting you from sites infested with malware, and from some third-party tracking ‘cookies.’ Although most websites allow Adblock Plus, you may encounter a site that won’t allow you to visit without viewing their ads. In that case, simply right-click the red stop sign in the browser’s toolbar to disable it. You can get it for your web browser here: www.adblockplus.org.
3. Use SSL while browsing
Any computer between you and the website you’re visiting can see your activity and information being transmitted. Simply using https:// – also known as SSL – instead of the standard http:// will encrypt your information and ensure no one is snooping on your connection. Many online retailers use SSL for transactions but using it for casual browsing can’t hurt and might even prevent your identity from being stolen. There is even an extension to automatically browse securely through SSL: www.eff.org/https-everywhere.
4. Try these Extensions to Stop Data Collectors and Advertisement Tracking
More about those third-party tracking cookies. They can be located and blocked with a simple extension called Disconnect. A similar extension named Ghostery works just as well, but it hasn’t been updated in awhile. Disconnect also shields you from social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google, which use your browsing activity even while away from their site to collect data about you. Get Disconnect or Ghostery for your web browser: www.disconnect.me and www.ghostery.com/download.
5. Use the Tor Project to anonymize your IP
Using Tor to browse the web anonymously can help prevent special types of IP analytics and statistics programs from analyzing your activity. This can work in conjunction with the Disconnect extension because each time you load a web page, your IP, which is your Internet Address, switches to the IP of a different Tor server. Imagine the privacy advantages of your identity changing each time you visit a store. You can download Tor here: www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en.
6. Protect your children
Children are often the targets of phishing and other online scams. Install the only kid-safe browser for them The Ultimate Kids Internet (TUKI for short).
Be aware that it is impossible to totally ensure your Internet privacy. Remember that the Internet was created as a government project (contrary to what Al Gore says). However, following these 5 basic suggestions could help you achieve a much lower internet profile than 99% of everyone else.