{"id":31179,"date":"2018-02-23T09:58:07","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T01:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=31179"},"modified":"2018-02-23T09:58:07","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T01:58:07","slug":"8-tips-for-better-online-privacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2018\/02\/23\/8-tips-for-better-online-privacy\/","title":{"rendered":"8 tips for better online privacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_31171\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Data-Privacy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31171\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-31171\" src=\"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Data-Privacy-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Data-Privacy-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Data-Privacy-195x110.jpg 195w, http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Data-Privacy.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-31171\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>IMAGE CREDIT: PIXABAY<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>In the face of the increasing number and frequency of data breaches, online privacy is an issue that every Internet user today should be concerned about. Take for example the recent Equifax data breach which announced the leaking of data from 143 million US consumers, or closer to the region where large scale data compromises in Philippines, Malaysia and India affected millions of users.\u00a0 Yet with such damaging breaches, users still do not do enough to prioritize their online privacy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The technicalities behind terms and conditions and the constant need for users to upgrade their security software are big hurdles. How then can we keep up with ensuring our online data is safeguarded? Here are eight quick tips from, Rajnesh\u00a0Singh, Regional Bureau Director for Asia-Pacific,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/\">Internet Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Learn how to \u201cshop smart\u201d for connected devices.\u00a0<\/b>You don\u2019t want to have to return a connected device because it is spying on you. Returning things is a pain. Learn how to \u201cshop smart,\u201d and buy privacy respecting connected devices so you won\u2019t have to.<\/li>\n<li><b>Update your devices and its applications.<\/b>\u00a0If a device or app has an auto-update feature, turn it on! Chances that you are going to take time to update it later are low.\u00a0 Often this is as easy as\u00a0a couple clicks. Additionally, do not forget to update the less obvious devices. Anything that\u2019s Internet connected, from your\u00a0light bulbs\u00a0to your thermostat, should be updated.<\/li>\n<li><b>Turn on strong encryption.\u00a0<\/b>Some devices and services have the capability to use encryption, but don\u2019t turn on encryption by default. This is like owning a safe, but leaving it unlocked. Take a few minutes to see if your devices or services are already using encryption or if you need to turn it on.<\/li>\n<li><b>Review the permissions on your mobile device.<\/b>\u00a0No flashlight app ever needs to track your location or your calendar. So, don\u2019t let them!\u00a0Review your permissions settings and turn off the permissions for apps that gather more data than you\u2019d like. It only takes a few minutes.<\/li>\n<li><b>Review the privacy settings on your social media and store accounts.\u00a0<\/b>You may be sharing a lot more than you intended through your social media and store accounts. Review your privacy settings to determine who can see what you write, the pictures you post, or your other activity on the platform. Ask yourself, who do I want to see this sort of information, and who do I not want to see\u00a0it. When possible, avoid linking your social media accounts with other third party services. Your social media platform does not need to know what music you listen to, so don\u2019t\u00a0tie\u00a0your music streaming service to your social media account!<\/li>\n<li><b>Boost the privacy protections on your favorite browser.\u00a0<\/b>There are lots of great browser extensions or plug-ins that can increase your privacy when browsing the web. One browser plugin,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/https-everywhere\">HTTPS Everywhere<\/a>, will ensure that if a website offers an encrypted SSL connection, it will use it. Others, like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ghostery.com\/\">Ghostery<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/privacybadger\">Privacy Badger<\/a>,\u00a0will block\u00a0tracking\u00a0cookies or\u00a0web beacons\u00a0that companies use to track your browsing habits. Getting privacy\u00a0protecting\u00a0browser plugins is a quick and easy way to better privacy.<\/li>\n<li><b>Stop reusing passwords.<\/b>\u00a0It is tempting to reuse a password for multiple devices or services. But, while reusing a password may be easier for you to remember,\u00a0if hacked or stolen,\u00a0it also makes it easier for criminals to gain access to your other devices or services.\u00a0Take a few minutes to get a secure password manager and learn how to use it, or,\u00a0for home devices,\u00a0write down your\u00a0passwords in a securely stored notebook.<\/li>\n<li><b>Turn on two factor authentication\u00a0(2FA)\u00a0for your applications and services.<\/b> When you think of 2FA, think of something you know (e.g. password) and something you have (e.g\u00a0a security token).\u00a02FA\u00a0means if someone only has your username and password they can\u2019t login as you. This is crucial because companies lose databases of their users passwords\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2017\/11\/27\/imgur-says-1-7m-emails-and-passwords-were-breached-in-2014-hack\/\">all<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2017\/10\/03\/555016024\/every-yahoo-account-that-existed-in-mid-2013-was-likely-hacked\">the\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.techradar.com\/news\/uk-law-firms-have-leaked-over-a-million-email-addresses-most-with-passwords-online\">time<\/a>.\u00a0The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twofactorauth.org\/\">Two Factor Auth<\/a>\u00a0site will walk you through how to set it up for almost every website that supports it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the face of the increasing number and frequency of data breaches, online privacy is an issue that every Internet user today should be concerned about. Take for example the recent Equifax data breach which announced the leaking of data from 143 million US consumers, or closer to the region where large scale data compromises [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":31171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[5840,286,5056,2420],"class_list":["post-31179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-internet-society","tag-it-security","tag-online-privacy","tag-password-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}