Whenever you use the internet for any reason, whether it’s for business or pleasure, there are certain risks involved. Three online privacy issues that you should be aware of, in particular, are tracking, hacking, and trading. Continue reading to learn about what these are and how you can protect yourself.
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What Is Hacking?
Hackers are a serious threat, so you should take steps to protect yourself. But how can you prevent hackers and problems like data breaches? Well, you can start by keeping your system up-to-date, whether you are using a computer or a mobile device. If there is an update to your operating system, any of the apps you use, or your internet browser, for example, install the updates ASAP to ensure that they are as secure as possible.
You can also keep hackers from accessing your information by using high-quality security software that will even scan your system for problems while protecting you against viruses and malware. This can help give you greater peace of mind when using the internet, but you should still take care to avoid things like phishing scams and dangerous websites.
What Is Tracking?
If you are familiar with website analytics, you know just how much data can be collected about a person when they visit a website. Things like the pages that they clicked on, which sites they came from, and how much time they spent on a page can all be used to better understand how people are utilizing a website. And with that information, a website owner can make adjustments to improve every user’s experience.
This might sound innocent enough, but the truth is that, whether you’re surfing websites or social media, much of what you do online is tracked all the time. While you might be able to disable certain cookies, it can be hard to stop this type of tracking. That’s why many people turn to using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to hide their IP address and provide them with more privacy while surfing the internet.
Most popular VPNs are NordVPN and Surfshark. Other VPN-guides include lesmeilleursvpn and personvernpanettet.
What Is Trading?
Information about you might be traded online without you even being aware of it happening. This might occur if hackers break into your system and steal your personal and financial information. They might then sell it on the dark web. But this might also happen if websites that collect information on individuals share their data with one another.
To get an idea of what information is currently out there about you, you can perform a search on Google using your full name. Alternatively, you can go to Nuwber, type in your name, and see what information appears. People search websites are databases that can have a good amount of information about you, and people can use that information to get in touch with you if they’re long-lost friends or relatives or they hope to work with you. At the same time, though, that information can be easy to access by strangers, so if you don’t feel comfortable with that, you can simply opt-out to have your details removed from those types of websites.
Now that you know more about hacking, tracking, and trading, you can take smarter steps to protect yourself and your private information while you are using the internet every day at home and at work.