Guidelines For Improving Online Privacy

1. Your contact information should always remain private

When you’re online and a website is asking for your contact information, you don’t need to give it to them. If you need to provide some contact information, simply utilize an alias instead. You can even create a new email address that you use in these cases. However, make sure that you don’t use this new email address whenever you need to contact people that you do trust such as friends and family. If you do this, then it will create an unsafe connection. You should consider using a service such as Blur which actually helps you to mask your real identity. It does this by making new email addresses along with very strong passwords whenever you have to make a new online account.

2. Take control of social media

If you use social media platforms such as Facebook, then you should adjust your privacy settings. For example, you can turn off tagging or activate the option to review your tags. Also, make sure that you only share your personal photos with the people you want to such as friends and family members. If you choose the option to share your photos with friends of friends, then this isn’t a good idea since as many as 150,000 people can possibly gain access to your data.

3. Delete

There are many new companies that are referred to as data brokers who actually search for your information and then they post it for the public to access. Some of the information that can be posted include your name, phone number, age and even possibly your address. They usually sell this information for only a couple of dollars. So, just about anyone can gain access to your data such as potential employers or even stalkers! However, it is possible to delete this by using a site such as DeleteMe. This site has a guide on how you can do just that. However, it will take a lot of time and effort. They also offer an easier service which you can pay for to delete your information and it will cost about $129 per year.

4. Password manager

In order to keep your personal data safe, it is important that you use strong and unique passwords for every online account. Once a person can easily guess the password for one of your accounts, it is much easier for them to gain and guess the passwords of other accounts. Therefore, be sure to use a password manager such as Blur in order to create strong passwords. They will not only create the passwords but also store them,

5. 2FA or MFA Authentication

Next, you should use two factor authentication where two factors need to be input in order to access data. A good place to use this is on your Amazon account as it would give you extra security. So, besides putting in your login details and password, you should also enter a single use code in order to log in successfully. In the vast majority of cases, this code is usually sent to your smartphone. By using this type of authentication, it makes it extremely difficult and almost impossible for your data to be stolen.

6. VPN

Lastly, consider using a VPN so that you can change your IP address and disguise yourself while using the internet. If you don’t use a VPN or proxy then your internet provider will be able to easily track what you do online. FInd out more here. They can then use this information for marketing or even sell your data to other businesses. Also, when you use a VPN, it will also keep hackers at bay so that they can’t steal your identification and personal information.