Billions of users are connected to the internet. We spend almost the entire day hooked up on our phone’s screens or in front of the computer. With every status posted, we allow information or data pertaining to ourselves to circulate on the internet. This makes us vulnerable to potential data breaches and shady people tracking your every online activity.
Not many people are aware of what is online privacy. It ranges from factors, tools, and technologies that you can use to help protect your sensitive data. When someone managed to access your data on the internet, they can use it to conduct illegal activities.
So how to protect your privacy online? Here are some crucial tips that you must definitely follow to prevent personal and private information breaches.
Use Strong Passwords In Your Accounts
Internet hackers are getting creative these days. They can easily access your accounts such as social media if you keep using weak passwords. Create strong passwords to avoid getting your account easily hacked. Combinations such as uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters can help improve the strength of your password, making it difficult for others to unlock.
Update Your Browsers
We use browsers as a way to surf across the internet. It’s important to keep browsers updated. Not only can it help make surfing the web faster, but it also helps protect information such as your web history, saved passwords, and many more from hackers.
Enable Authentication Settings
Sometimes, just having a password is not enough. Hackers can still get inside and steal your information. Some websites these days offer a two-part authentication feature. This adds extra security to your account every time you log in. Two-part authentication includes OTP (one-time password), security questions, and sometimes, biometrics. They may be annoying to use but they help provide data security to your accounts all over the internet.
Use People Search Engine To Check For Your Personal Information
The longer you spend online, the more likely you get to have your personal information stolen from you. Websites such as Nuwber lets you find people online and can be used as a means to check if your data is available for online access. If by any chance, you found your data and want it to be taken down, there are tools you can use to remove it. Data remover tools such as OneRep let you search your name across people search sites on the internet. Once found, OneRep deletes these records from websites. Or else, you can do it yourself by following the instructions on how to opt out of people search sites.
Avoid Opening Suspicious Files
Have you ever received an email with an unknown file attached to it? Chances are, they are malware or viruses. Avoid opening mysterious files or emails from unknown people to minimize the risk of installing a virus on your device. Software viruses are creative these days. They hide in seemingly harmless ways such as apps, document files, and websites. Viruses can sometimes cause problems on your computer that will render it unusable. So the next time you see a suspicious email, don’t open and put it straight to the trash.
Be Careful When Using Free Wifi
Using public wifi is very tempting, especially when you know that it’s not password-protected. However, be mindful when connecting your device to public networks. This allows them to access certain information such as location. Hackers can use this to trace your activities while connected to the network. If you are planning to send sensitive data to your co-worker, it’s better to avoid doing it over public wifi. You’re risking the chance for it to be compromised in the hands of a skillful hacker.
Be Mindful Of the Things You Share
While it’s tempting to pose a lot of photos from your vacation trips, hackers can also gain access to them. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram let you set your privacy settings. It gives you the option to see what people should or should not see your social media profiles. In this manner, you can control what personal information you sent out on the internet.
Read Up Terms and Conditions
Let’s face it; we usually just tick this box on every website we visit. It’s too long and comes with fancy words we barely understand. While it’s tiring to read a wall of text, terms and conditions usually contain privacy policies on how a website may or may not access your information while using it.
Conclusion
Internet privacy is very important. Since almost everyone in the world is logged on, sensitive data can move from one network to another. Data breaches can cost millions of money to businesses and organizations if their data has been hacked. Luckily, technology has evolved over time as well and it can help protect your information from prying eyes. Use the above techniques to help you keep track of your activities online. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Also read: How Reliable Is Large-Scale 3D Printing? – PCRIVER
