Swap up your search engine/web browser: On my PC at home, I use the search engine DuckDuckGo. There are many privacy benefits to this platform, including the fact that they don’t store any personal information, whatsoever, on their users. This company prides itself on privacy, and is also accessible through the browser Tor. It has a very simple interface, and is easy to use. You will also find the search results vastly different from Google’s, which is sometimes a good thing, as it diversifies what information you are being shown.
Use a VPN. There are a number of VPN services out there, some are free, and some are paid for. The paid services are often cheap, and run smoother than the free versions. There are programs you can download, or extensions you can simply add to your browser. You may experience some latency, but a VPN is a surefire way of securing your data. Do some research, and figure out which one is best for you.
Stay informed on pro-Privacy policies. This is one of the harder ones to do, but there are entities out there that do this for you. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (Thanks Dr. Elizabeth Ray) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1990 as a reaction to a major privacy violation. They are still in the fight for privacy, and they have a function called the EFF Action Center on their website, that will tell you what pro-Privacy policies are worthy of support, and provide a link to how you can support them. They do the leg work and show you where to look, you just have to look. Legislation changes are the biggest things that will help solve the privacy problems across the internet, so supporting these will be huge for the future of your privacy.
When I first heard of VPNs, I thought they were more just for streaming Netflix shows that weren't available in your country. In fact, that's what I used a VPN for: I had one called TunnelBear, with a cute little cartoon bear logo, while I was in Ireland, because I wanted to watch something that was available in the U.S. but not where I was. Over the past few years though, I've heard people talk more and more about using a VPN for internet security and privacy reasons, and I think I've even heard DuckDuckGo advertised on a podcast or two.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting that we have to pay for tools like this. Of course, paying to support those who create and uphold/maintain these services makes sense, but it definitely goes to show that privacy is equally or maybe even more commodified now than it used to be. Of course, it's also due to the fact that giving up our privacy is a way to "pay for" things, like the reading mentioned: we give our information and agree to be individually targeted as someone to market things to in exchange for using a website, app, or service.