People nowadays rely on the internet for many things, a reason why their privacy should be protected as much as possible.
We benefit from free public WIFI which has increased our chances to surf on the internet even when we’re not home.
But this is not actually a good thing for many individuals that have become careless with how they manage online activities and personal information.
This is bad because it will leave many vulnerable to the invasion of privacy and identity theft.
Every time you visit a website or log on Facebook to share something, you’ll inevitably leave your digital footprints that can be traced back to your identity.
Using a public WIFI connection increases the probability of being a victim of cybercriminals who could steal your identity and information, such as bank account information or credit card.
Public WIFI connection has never been safe that’s why the best for you will be to avoid using them.
The best thing that you could do to avoid such nuisance is to improve your password strength or change it as often as you can.
The simple tips will bring you a better understanding of why and how you should improve your privacy online:
Use Different and Strong passwords
Using strong and different passwords can decrease your chances of being hacked. That’s why you should consider changing and enforcing them as often as you can.
When your password that you’re using for other devices is stolen, your other accounts will also be at risk.
You should think of something complex but personal to remember.
If you’re not sure what your password you should use and, try with a random password generator this will save you some time from deciding whether your password is a god or not.
The simplest way to build a strong password is to use special characters, numbers and symbols like exclamation sign or question mark.
A late survey has shown that nearly one-third (31.3%) of social media users change their passwords two times per year. People should remember to do it more often if they wish to maintain safer privacy.
Remember the importance of your primary mail and use a very strong password to stick with, in case you forgot the password and have to recover a certain account.
Use HTTPS
As you know, every internet address starts with “Http” or “Https”. Http means that the connection between you and a certain website is open which means that someone who clicks on your internet connection may see everything you’re writing or everything you’re looking at.
You should start using sites that have https as a default. Other sites have https as an option, and if you wish an increased safety in your privacy you should consider using them.
Usually, you can find out whether you are on https on not after a lock icon in the address bar. If your lock icon is crossed it means that your connection might not be protected and this is a bit risky.
Https can be downloaded everywhere if you need to encrypt your web searching. One of the best apps, WhatsApp is already using end-to-end encryption.
Choose Browsers that Respect Your Privacy
There are plenty of reasons why someone would choose to use a more secure browser.
People have become more concerned about their privacy and how their data is being used.
That’s why choosing a secure browser is another great way to secure your data from huge companies such as Facebook and Chrome. Choosing a secure browser means you’re avoiding hacks.
A secure browser is usually characterized by URL filtering and download protection. Browsers like Chrome and Firefox are known to be the most secure of all.
Mozilla Firefox is usually recommended by PrivacyTool.io and can become a trusty privacy-friendly website while has plenty of add-one ready to be used to make the Firefox experience worthy.
Also, it has plenty of forks specially made to be privacy-focused for everyone’s taste.
Use Two-factor Authentication
This should be an extra step when you log-in in your account and popular services such as Gmail and Facebook already use the two-factor authentication.
This is very simple while you won’t need to use your new device that often. You’ll receive a message with a six-digit code for confirmation every time you log on the new device with your password.
This will make your account way harder to access even if someone already has your password because they’ll need your phone to log in to your account.
Constantly update your apps, computer and phone
Many of us are ignoring the importance of updates. These should be done right away if you want your phone to have a better function.
Almost every update includes security patches that will close the holes in your software and increase the safety in your computer or phone.
You must not avoid the importance of updates and should consider doing it right away.
You can turn on automatic updates if you don’t have enough time to care for your phone at the moment. You can do this from your phone, computer or app store settings.
Be Careful what you Share on Social Media
Many sites have complicated and ambiguous privacy policies, and one of them is Facebook.
Being careful of what you like, share and watch must be essential because the entire social media business exemplary is based on the extraction of your personal information for all sorts of marketing and advertising purposes. Every page has privacy options.
Make sure you’ve marked what your needs are and with who you want to share your information and life.
Everyone cares about their privacy but today this has become harder to keep. Make some research and check carefully what you expose to who and when.
There are plenty of solutions if you want to improve your online privacy and one of them is to use a secure email service.
