Think your online activities are private? Think again. Between scammers, hackers, advertisers, employers, and malicious programs, every move you make online can be tracked. Here are a few ways you’re watched online—and the steps you can take to maintain your privacy.
Websites collect your information. You give out personal information when you browse the Internet—both on purpose and without your knowledge. Some websites will ask you to “register” by entering an email address or other personal information, which is then used for marketing purposes. Others are not so overt; they place small files called “cookies” on your hard drive when you visit. These are tiny files that record information such as your IP address; user name and password; items you purchase on the site; number of times you visit the site, which pages you view and links you click on; and other personal information. This information can be used by advertisers to create a marketing profile, or it can be sold or shared with other businesses.
Read website privacy policies before signing up or disclosing personal information. Only give out sensitive information on secure, encrypted sites. Use a dummy email address when you need to give one out on the web; and set your computer to be selective about the cookies it accepts. Many sites won’t let you on at all if you don’t accept cookies, so it may not be realistic to block them entirely—but you can delete the cookies on your computer regularly.
Your posts are preserved. When you post messages on forums, blogs, social networking sites, and chatrooms, the things you write could be saved on the website indefinitely. When you post anything online, never post personal information. Use a pseudonym and avoid posting anything you wouldn’t want employers or family to see.
You’ve been profiled. If you’ve ever bought anything, filled in an online survey, registered with a website, made an inquiry, or done anything else online using your email address, that information has probably been collected by advertisers. Advertisers work hard to collect personal information about you—the sites you visit, the things you buy online, the searches you do in search engines—that can help them send you targeted advertising.
Direct mailers and scammers send you misleading emails. There are plenty of ways criminals can collect information about you via email. One of the most common is by “phishing” or “pharming,” in which scammers send you an email that looks like it comes from a bank or financial company you do business with. The email states that it needs you to confirm personal information such as your username, password, or social security number. When you send the email back, it’s not going to your bank—it’s going to a scammer.
Many people think they can limit their spam by clicking the “opt out” link in unwanted messages. Often, this link simply tells the spammer that your email address is active—and it can actually increase the amount of spam you get.
To avoid these scams, never send personal information to a company over email. Call your bank to confirm if you see an email stating there’s been a problem with your account; if there really is a problem, your bank should call you. Never click on links in spam; instead, delete it and report it as spam to your email program.
Employers and recruiters search for your name. Scammers aren’t the only people out there looking for information about you. If you’ve applied for a job, the recruiter or hiring manager may do a search for your name. Your boss may also do a search to see what you’re up to offline. This is all perfectly legal, and it’s not unheard of for employers to fire workers because of blogs, MySpace and Facebook profiles, and other online information.
You download spyware inadvertently. Spyware is software that tracks every move you make and sends information about you to a third party. Spyware must be downloaded, so it might seem easy to avoid—but it’s not. Spyware may be bundled with other software you want to download on the web without your knowledge—or it might download automatically when you visit a certain site. Some spyware programs come packaged as anti-spyware programs.
Spyware can be inserted into your computer through holes in your operating system, which can be plugged by downloading updates regularly—so be sure to update your software whenever a new patch comes out. You should also install an anti-spyware program, but do your research first—some are actually spyware in disguise.
Your privacy is at risk whenever you log on to the Internet—but you can take steps to protect it. These are only a few things you can do to shield your personal information and protect your privacy online.
Your Privacy on the Internet:Someone's Watching You