Overview
As computers become more and more important in our everyday lives, online privacy becomes an even bigger problem. Online anonymity is important because it prevents large corporations from storing our personal information, protecting ourselves from these corporations and potential data leaks which could cause our personal information to fall into the wrong hands.
Why should you care?
Data brokers are people who buy your personal information from large corporations and harvest it from data leaks and sell it online. This information can be as simple as your name and email address, but can also include your passwords, home address, and sometimes very critical information like your social security number and bank details. Oftentimes this information is sold to advertisers for the purpose of targeted ads, which can lead to things such as spam emails. Sometimes, this personal information will land in the wrong hands, and it will be sold on the dark web. In cases like this, hackers could hack into your personal accounts and steal your identity. This would be detrimental, especially if your bank details were leaked, as a hacker could completely empty your accounts without your knowledge.
How can you protect yourself?
- Virtual Private Networks
- Virtual Credit Cards
- Secure Browsers & Search Engines
- HTTPS over HTTP
VPNs like NordVPN first encrypt your traffic before sending it over the internet. This prevents your ISP from seeing the websites you’re viewing by routing your internet traffic through its own servers. This can also prevent websites from seeing your IP, which can be used to track you across sites, and can be used to find your location.
Like VPNs, virtual credit cards created using services like privacy.com hide your real credit card and prevent unauthorized charges by allowing you to create usage limits and restrict charges to certain companies. This can be used to prevent unauthorized charges on your card and is also helpful in case you forget to cancel free trials, as the payment won’t go through. Also, since it’s a virtual card, it can be easily deactivated, preventing bad actors from continuing to use your card without you having to go through the trouble of getting a new card from your bank.
VPNs like NordVPN first encrypt your traffic before sending it over the internet. This prevents your ISP from seeing the websites you’re viewing by routing your internet traffic through its own servers. This can also prevent websites from seeing your IP, which can be used to track you across sites, and can be used to find your location.
VPNs like NordVPN first encrypt your traffic before sending it over the internet. This prevents your ISP from seeing the websites you’re viewing by routing your internet traffic through its own servers. This can also prevent websites from seeing your IP, which can be used to track you across sites, and can be used to find your location.
Sources
Meet the Authors
