If there is one thing for certain when using the internet, it is that you are almost 100% guaranteed to be tracked or monitored in some way. What you search for and what websites you visit is worth a lot of money to some people. Advertising companies, in particular, are very interested in what it is that you yourself are interested in as they can use this to target you with ads selling you what your search history suggests you might like to buy.
If you are tired of this lack of privacy and want to do something about it, we have some tips on how you can maintain your online privacy.
Disable Cookies
No, despite their name, these are not tasty cookies that lead people to you via a crumb trail. Cookies are tiny pieces of data that are stored on your computer. Cookies are used to store certain information such as passwords, logins and other data that you might use when surfing the internet.
While some websites will offer some fairly secure cookies that are encrypted, others will not have any kind of encryption at all. You can set your browser to only accept cookies from certain sites and even disable them altogether.
Use Private Browsing
All major and even some lesser-known web browsers will give users the ability to use private browsing. They are usually given a different name such as Incognito Mode in Google Chrome. This private browsing prevents websites from tracking what you are doing while the browser itself will not collect any of your browsing history.
Use a VPN
For the ultimate in privacy when browsing the web, you should be using a VPN possible. A VPN is a private network of computers that you can connect to with the data being sent between the two is encrypted and untraceable. A user connects to this network via one of their servers that could be located anywhere in the world.
The user then adopts the identity of that server when browsing the internet. Your own location and identity are perfectly secure and even the ISP that you are using will not be able to track what you are doing.
For example, you will 100% need a VPN in most countries if you plan on using torrentz software in order to cover your tracks in case your ISP decides to report you.
Use an Encrypted Search Engine
Major search engines such as Google and Yahoo make their money by selling their users information. This allows targeted ads to find their way to you if you have shown any kind of interest in a product or service before. All companies have to make money but there are other search engines that do this without selling your data.
DuckDuckGo and Search Encrypt are two such search engines and they instead keep your data protected via encryption technology and instead sell advertising space in their search results for relevant terms.
If you are using a torrentz2, then using an encrypted search engine to find the ones you want might be a good idea to cover your tracks while you are searching for them when not connected to a VPN.
Summing Up
Many of you might not be too bothered about being monitored tracked and having your data and information sold to advertisers but we know that there are plenty of you that do. If you do wish to be more private when online, we suggest that you follow our advice above. A VPN, in particular, will allow you to surf and browse the web in complete privacy.