Top Ten Ways to Protect Privacy Online

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Top Ten Ways to Protect Privacy Online

• -Abdul M

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Look for privacy policies on Web Sites

• Web sites can collect a lot of information about
  your visit -- what computer you use, what type of
  hardware and software you have, what Web sites
  you have visited. Web sites that ask you to
  provide even a small amount of personal
  information can tie the data you provide to your
  browsing habits.

3
Get a separate account for your personal e-mail

• Often, online users do not realize that e-mail
  sent from their work accounts is likely to be an
  open book to their employers. Even if you send an
  e-mail from your home, a copy is often stored on
  your employer's main computer server. Your boss
  has a legal right to read any and all
  correspondence in this account or on your work
  computer at any time.
• Getting a separate account for home allows you to
  check your personal messages without using your
  workplace e-mail server. Some private accounts
  can be configured to enable you to check your
  personal mail from work without downloading it
  onto your company computer.

4
Teach your kids that giving out personal
information online means giving it to strangers

• Teach your children that they need your
  permission before they can give out their name,
  address or other information about themselves or
  the family.
• Several years ago, a number of Web sites
  encouraged children to give information about
  themselves or their family some enticed kids
  with games and free gifts. In 1998, a law was
  passed requiring companies to gain parental
  consent before collecting personal information
  from children under 13 years old. If you are
  concerned about a Web site collecting information
  from children without consent, you should
  communicate your concern to the Federal Trade
  Commission at kidsprivacy_at_ftc.gov.

5
Clear your memory cache after browsing

• After you browse the Web, copies of all accessed
  pages and images are saved on your computer's
  memory. While these copies make subsequent visits
  to the same sites faster, the browsing record has
  grave implications for personal privacy,
  particularly if you share a computer or browse at
  work. You can delete most of your online trail by
  simply going to the "Preferences" folder in your
  browser and clicking on the "Empty Cache" button.
  Sometimes this option is in the "Advanced" menu
  of the browser preferences. In Internet Explorer,
  go to "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu
  and click on "Clear History".

6
Reject unnecessary cookies

• Cookies enable Web sites to store information
  about your visit on your own hard drive. Cookies
  inform site operators if you have visited the
  site and, if you have obtained a username and
  password, cookies remember that information for
  you. Many of the "personalized" search engines
  use cookies to deliver news topics that users
  select sites often use these same preferences to
  target advertisement. Cookies can be rejected by
  accessing the "Advanced" screen of the
  "Preferences" menu. In Internet Explorer, delete
  cookies by clicking on the "Delete Files" button
  in the "General" icon of "Tools"' "Internet
  Options" menu.

7
Use anonymous remailers

• Anonymity is essential to protect free speech. It
  can be used to protect human rights workers
  reporting abuses, political dissidents commenting
  on government actions, writers publishing
  controversial literature and other important
  functions where revealing a person's identity
  would threaten a person's life or wellbeing.
  Anonymous publishing has been recognized in the
  United States as being protected by the First
  Amendment.
• One very good remailer was created as a joint
  project of the George Mason Society and the
  Global Internet Liberty Campaign and is available
  on the Web at http//www.gilc.org/speech/anonymous
  /remailer.html

8
Keep your e-mail private, use encryption!

• E-mail is not as secure a medium as many believe.
  
• E-mail can be easily rerouted and read by
  unintended third parties messages are often
  saved for indefinite periods of time. Presently,
  there exist technologies that allow you to
  encrypt your messages in order to protect their
  privacy. Some e-mail programs (i.e., Internet
  Explorer Outlook and Netscape Messenger) have
  encryption. Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), a popular
  encryption software, is free for non-commercial
  use

9
Use anonymizers while browsing

• New Internet scams are born everyday so it's
  critical to protect your identity and personal
  information on the Web. Anonymizer solutions
  empower you to control the amount of personal
  information that you share when visiting Web
  sites, sending emails, chatting, or posting to
  message boards.
• Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing combines the
  protection of rotating anonymous IP addresses
  with the security of 128-bit SSL technology.
  http//www.anonymizer.com

10
Opt-out of third party information sharing

• Are you tired of getting all that junk mail?
  Telephone calls during dinner? Worried about who
  has your name on a list and what they're doing
  with it? If so, this site is for you.
• You may not realize it, but a company you have
  done business with may have sold or shared your
  personal information to other companies. In some
  cases, you have the power to stop this practice.
• Many online companies provide you with the option
  to get off (or "opt-out") the lists that share
  your information. Some companies enable users to
  easily opt out -- users are often able to do so
  online. A number of companies go a step further
  and ask your permission (opt-in) before sharing
  personal information that they have collected.
  Often, however, companies make opting out
  difficult or virtually impossible addresses are
  buried, one cannot opt-out online, etc. CDT
  (Center for Democracy and Technology) has created
  Operation Opt-Out to help you control how your
  personal data is collected and distributed.