Losing control of your personal information can be all too easy online. But by taking some precautions, you can maintain privacy while surfing the Web.
We've got five tips for protecting yourself:
1. Adjust social-network privacy settings
Facebook has made strides in simplifying its privacy settings, but their many options can still seem like a labyrinth। Still, it's worth going in there every once in a while and familiarizing yourself with how much of your information is shared with the world.
To get there, log in to Facebook, and type "privacy settings" into the search box. Facebook recently shrunk that feature to be accessible from a smartphone.
The settings page now offers quick toggles to decide whether your profile is shared just with approved friends, with their friends, too, or publicly. Because many people draw privacy lines differently, you can also fine-tune individual switches.
Taking a leap further, you can give the "super-logoff" trick a try. It's especially popular among young people.
Twitter, another popular social network, also lets you lock your account from public view. In settings, there's a feature called "protect my tweets."
2. Ensure personal data is sent over a secure connection
When sending credit card numbers, banking information and passwords, verify that there's an image of a padlock on the address bar of the browser. This denotes a secure connection to the site. This technology encrypts the data you send and receive, so it's difficult for anyone snooping on the line to access your info.
3. Consider opting out of ad tracking
Online ad networks often install a small file on the computers of people who visit certain websites. These so-called cookies can log your surfing habits, allowing advertisers to tailor ads to your interests.
But what if we don't want to be tracked?
For starters, many Web browsers have a feature in their settings panel that lets you disable cookies from third-party websites। This will stop many ad networks from gaining a fast track into your computing activities.
A couple of organizations offer systems for opting out of popular ad networks. The Network Advertising Initiative and PrivacyChoice.org let you opt out of ad networks with a few clicks. You'll need to activate this on every computer you use. But be warned: Some ad companies may continue to track you even though you've elected to opt out.
