Online privacy is necessary for protecting financial and personal details and information about oneself. The lack of concern regarding this can lead to problems like identity theft and can exacerbate cybercriminal activities. It is very much plausible to reveal your details, your email address, and your phone number while creating social media accounts, as the majority of the websites follow the practice of asking and demanding such information. It is also very much possible to reveal your financial details while online shopping for the sake of online transactions. In this blog, we will be discussing some of the methods and solutions for improving online privacy concerns.
Methods to Improve Online Privacy
Go for Strong Passwords
Going for a strong password is one of the first and necessary steps that you can take when dealing with the safety of your social accounts. It is recommended not to rely solely on the use of numbers in passwords, but you can go for including even symbols and letters in them. Furthermore, a password should preferably be a mix of both lower and upper cases. Introducing various characters in the passwords makes them unique, less predictable, and hence almost impossible to access. It is recommended to opt for different and unique passwords for separate accounts. Companies offering University Assignment Help should be particularly mindful of such security requirements.
Update and Maintain Privacy Settings on Social Media
Social platforms like Facebook and Instagram do not come with default privacy settings. To avoid compromising your account. You might need to look for updated privacy settings, including: audience restrictions, i.e., setting the account on either Public or Private. You can choose to share your posts with either “friends”, the “public”, or “only me”. Furthermore, you can review and turn on or off location sharing to avoid any tracking. While using social media or any other application that allows the use of third-party applications, you can revoke or limit access, in some cases by rejecting cookies. In this way, your personal information can be prevented from being shared by third-party websites and applications.
Using Two-factor or Multi-factor Authentication
The use of two or multi-factor authentication processes is not limited to government organisations and banks, but is now becoming a crucial aspect to protect even personal email accounts. The two-factor or multifactor authentication system allows the user to log in to a website or an application by going through a variety of steps of verification steps. For example, if you set it for your Google account, then whenever you log in to another device other than your phone, you might need to verify the code that appears on your phone. But if you set an authenticator, then you might need to even enter a one-time code to get access and log in to your account. In some cases, two-factor or multiple-factor processes use scanning your fingerprint or providing an access code via SMS.
Beware of the External Links Sharing
External link sharing is one of the methods of phishing that is becoming common these days. They can be the source of stealing your financial and personal information. To avoid this, it is advised not to click on such links and immediately block and report the senders. The method is becoming common both through social media platforms and via SMS.
Regularly Update your Software
Keeping the software updated is one of the essential steps that we tend to ignore. We need to keep in mind that the software of devices like phones, computers, and applications is not just for bringing new updates for the features, but also is meant to fix bugs that can be recurring sometimes while using applications. In addition, they provide you with the latest security features to keep your system virus-free and bug-free.
Avoid Using the Keep Me Logged In Feature
While using websites that require your email address for login, you must not click on the pop-up dialogue box that says “Keep me logged in” or “Remember me”. The reason for this is that if someone accidentally gains access to your device and you have turned on the keep me logged in feature, then it might be easier to attain access to your account. The feature, though, sounds useful but can be risky, and thus it’s advised to log out of the websites after using them.
Go For the VPN Solution
Using a VPN can be a great way to maintain and hide your IP address and location, which hackers can instantly hack to attain your personal information. The use of a Virtual Private Network or VPN can help protect your IP address and make it impossible for hackers to track. If you are thinking about acquiring personal statement writing services, look for a firm that adopts such security methods to avoid leaking any personal information of the clients.
Give Heed to the Wi-Fi Security
Most of us use Wi-Fi connections to gain access to the internet. Hence, one needs to make sure that it is encrypted, secured, and protected with a strong password. Adopt the latest secure methods, including WPA2 AND WPA3, for advanced protection. Moreover, go for setting a strong password for better security.
FAQs
- How to protect my privacy while browsing online?
Start off by first reading the privacy policy of the website. Then you should be looking for either rejecting or accepting the cookies, it is advised to reject them, and go for logging on with a strong password if the login is needed. Always remember to log yourself out in case you are leaving the website.
- How effective is the two-factor authentication process?
The two-factor authentication method helps in adding security layers to the login process. It is usually an effective process to help in preventing getting your passwords figured out by the hackers.
- How strong should a password be?
Your password should be at least 12 characters long. It should contain a mix of symbols, numbers, and letters, and should contain characters of both upper and lower cases.
Final Thoughts
It is almost impossible to avoid sharing your personal and financial details when using the internet. Being mindful of your online privacy and security is necessary to protect your private data from being stolen. This article lists in detail some of the easy and best ways to solve your internet privacy issues. You can go for methods like two or multi-factor authentication, and avoid sharing and accessing any external links shared with you via messages or on social media. Furthermore, you can restrict the access of third-party websites, go for advanced Wi-Fi security, and use a VPN, especially on public computers.
