Surveillance Capitalism refers to the monetization of personal information obtained through monitoring the online behaviors and activities of users. These pieces of information will be assessed to foresee our behavior and sold as a prediction product to business clients who take advantage of what we are doing.
But despite offering many free services businesses can generate considerable profits through personalized marketing. Selling marketing is the biggest source of revenue for businesses offering free services. Businesses use the information they have collected about their users to come up with personalized and offer targeted marketing messages. But when things go wrong unexpectedly, it may result in dreadful consequences such as identity theft, data loss, and password hacks. Having that said, knowing how to improve the security of your anonymity and privacy online is crucial. Don’t have any idea on how to enhance your security? Here are some tips that are sure to help you.
Tip #1: Use A VPN
It is worth getting a VPN to encrypt your connection and shield your online activity from your ISP or other malicious third parties.
A VPN will offer you online anonymity and privacy by making private networks from a public internet connection. Using a VPN is especially important when you are on public Wi-Fi. VPNs will make it harder for a cybercriminal or hacker to access your personal data and break your online privacy.
Tip #2: Use Different Search Engines
Admit it or not, you are heavily relying on Google as your primary search engine. But the fact is that you don’t need to. One reason why many are using anonymous search engines is to ensure privacy. This type of search engine does not share and even collect your clicks and search history. Moreover, an anonymous search engine can block ad trackers on the sites you visit.
Tip #3: Only Visit Secure HTTPS Websites
Hypertext transfer protocol secure or HTTPS is the encrypted version of the normal HTTPS that begins any web address. This makes sure that your data is encrypted when it is transferred between the browser and server. If the website is using HTTPS, it is automatically enabled. You can determine if the HTTPS is supported by the lock icon located at the address bar. So, only make use of websites supporting HTTPS. This will protect you from cyber hacker attacks and most importantly, prevents you from being tampered with and interrupted.
Tip #4: Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Two-step authentication or two-factor authentication is an additional layer of security for online accounts that you can utilize on top of your login credentials to protect yourself from cybercriminals. This form of authentication comes in a code that you can receive on your phone that you need to enter into a website after proving you own the account.
Tip #5: Use High-Quality Antivirus
Always install antivirus on all your devices. This software will keep hackers from taking over your computer remotely. It will also prevent them from tracking your location and accessing your financial and personal information.
However, after you install antivirus make sure not to forget about it. Service providers update their software regularly as a defense against the latest viruses and spyware. If updates are available, make sure to install them right away.
Conclusion
It’s best to stop something from taking place than to reap the consequences afterward. Do not want until any of your important information gets compromised or hacked. Instead, protect your anonymity and privacy online by taking the above-mentioned preventative security measures.
