If you’re online, someone out there is trying to track you
You can take control of your internet privacy
In a previous column I wrote about my efforts to stop Facebook and other companies from tracking me on the internet. In the email responses I got I discovered that personal privacy is a variable personal preference. Some people want to keep their internet activity absolutely private, while others are rather casual about privacy and don’t care if their Facebook profile is viewable by anyone in the world.
Whether you want just a little privacy or wish to be completely anonymous while online, there are steps you can take that range from free to a few dollars a month.
In order to understand internet privacy you need to be aware of the two main culprits at work in tracking you. The first is called a cookie. It’s a small text file which any website you visit can secretly place in your browser, which is the program you use to visit websites. A cookie can’t identify you personally but it can be read by other websites with permission and in conjunction with cookies set by those other websites a very detailed profile of your interests, habits, purchases, and internet activity can be compiled and used to target ads.
While some cookies set by your bank or a store may be necessary you can use the privacy mode in a browser when visiting other websites and avoid tracking cookies. The private browsing setting in a browser will delete all cookies and the list of websites you visited when the browser is closed. In Google Chrome it’s called Incognito Mode, Firefox labels it as Private Browsing, and it’s InPrivate in Internet Explorer and Edge. The How to Geek site has detailed instructions (http://tinyurl.com/m6cqrcm) for browsing privately.
On your iPad, iPhone, or Android device you can install the Firefox Focus browser. It is automatically in private mode and has an erase button to delete all traces of your browsing history and cookies. The Focus website (https://support.mozilla.org/enUS/products/focus-firefox) has info and links.
The other privacy enemy is your internet protocol (IP) address. It is a long number assigned to your computer by your internet service provider (ISP) and is unique to your computer. Ominously, it can reveal your exact location, is visible to every website you visit, and if requested by the authorities your ISP can use it to identify you by name.
Go to IPLocation (https://www.iplocation.net/find-ipaddress) to see how much information your computer is giving out about you as well as your location. A computer’s IP address is used by Netflix, for example, to prevent a resident of Canada from accessing the U.S. Netflix.
To hide your IP address you can use a Virtual Private Network VPN) which will route your internet connection through a server in another country. I use PureVPN (www.purevpn.com) which is fairly inexpensive and has servers in about 120 countries, although there are other versions of VPN software with a wide range of prices. You can see reviews and recommendations at TheBestVPN website (https:// thebestvpn.com).
There are some free VPNs, such as Zenmate and PureVPN for tablets and smartphones, and Tunnelbear (www.tunnelbear.com) for Windows computers, but they are limited in speed and number of servers and will pester you to upgrade to the premium versions. You should use your browser in private mode when using a VPN to prevent any tracking cookies from being placed.
Or you can use the Tor browser which is free, will hide your IP address, and will not accept cookies. The Tor browser was developed by the U. S. Navy for secure intelligence gathering and is connected through various serv- ers to the Onion network, which is operated by volunteers all over the world. Tor is commonly used by journalists and agencies to hide their online activity while in repressive countries that enforce internet censorship and tracking. Tor will run on any device and operating system and if used on a USB flash drive it will leave no traces of its use on the computer. The official Tor site (www.torproject.org) has tons of info and instructions.
A little or a lot of privacy, it’s your choice.