Does online privacy concern you alongside the fear of how much of your data is on the world wide web and susceptible to theft or misuse?
If you are, know you are not alone.
According to Routers, most well-known US retailers were victims of cyber attacks. Those numbers would probably have climbed up by now and might even increase further in the coming years.
Even today, when numerous internet privacy tools are available, your passwords and personal information are not in safe custody.
Today, people regard online privacy greatly (and for some seriously right reasons).
To assist you in navigating these treacherous virtual times, we have compiled a list of 14 easy ways you can use to protect your privacy online.
Get to know your right to online privacy
When you register for a website and are asked to provide personal information, it’s essential to consider the following questions: Can I trust the website with my information? How will they use my information? Will they share my information with third parties?
In most cases, when a company wants to share your data with third parties, they first seek your approval (Sometimes you don’t even know you have given consent when you accept terms of service). Once you approve sharing your data with third parties, you no longer control what happens to your data or how the third party uses it.
Different laws and organizations formed have been formulated to protect user privacy. For instance, for European users, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides a flexible way of managing your data and privacy whilst protecting your data.
Another example is for people living in California, where the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) give users the right to ask companies how they collect or sell personal data. The organization also allows you to ask the company to delete your data completely.
Below are some of the things you need to do to maintain your privacy online.
- Determine which personal data a company is collecting about you.
- Find out the company’s data policy and whether data is sold to third parties.
- Deny the company any rights to sell your data to third parties.
- Find out all the data the company has on you.
- Ask the organization to delete the data they have on you permanently.
- Turn off any automatic password-saving features to ensure better security.
- Use messaging apps that implement end-to-end encryption to safeguard your conversations.
- Be mindful of the information you post on social media platforms, and consider the privacy implications of sharing certain types of content.
- Enable two-factor authentication
- Turn off any settings that allow for the tracking of your data and ads.
- Watch out for phishing attempts.
- Remove any app connections that you no longer need or use.
1. Use strong passwords and a password manager
It is necessary knowledge that a strong password is your first line of defense in protecting your data online.
A long and complicated password that combines special characters, both lower and upper case, can be the first step towards securing yourself in the online domain.
It is recommended that you may never reuse passwords. However, the question arises, how many people can remember such passwords?
Users should come up with a strong password that is easy for them to remember while using different passwords on different accounts.
Also, you should keep your passwords secret alongside changing them regularly. Another thing you should keep in mind is to avoid saving passwords on browsers that are public and open to networks you do not control.