More people are now aware of the risks that the internet can bring – especially for our data and privacy. To that end, we are putting more effort into staying safe online.
However, the scourge of internet data breaches and hacks are yet to take a back seat.
This is mostly because we are not focusing on the small things that could well become big problems later. That is what we hope to focus on in this piece.
#1 Incognito Mode
An incognito mode of browsing promises to allow you to surf the web without worrying about having your history logged in the browser. This mode of browsing will also eliminate cookies from the browser so that you don’t have them tracking you.
What you don’t know is that your internet service provider (ISP), office, school, or any other establishment may still see what you are doing on their network. While the data won’t be saved locally on the computer, these people can access it remotely.
The only way to truly browse the internet anonymously and not have your data tied back to you is with a secure VPN. Since this software will route your internet data through different IP addresses and servers, other parties will not be able to see what you are doing on the network.
#2 Public Wi-Fi networks
Even if you had the strongest password in the building and use different passwords for different accounts, a public Wi-Fi network may immediately expose your privacy.
On the scale of network encryption, public Wi-Fi is on the lowest rung of that ladder. They only come with basic security protocols which makes them a haven for hackers.
When you connect to one of these networks, it becomes easy for hackers to snoop around your data stream and hijacks conversations. This is referred to as a man-in-the-middle attack. They can even install malware on your device via the public Wi-Fi network.
#3 Google tracking purchases
It recently came to light that Google has been tracking all that we have been buying on the internet. They did not just get the idea to start doing so too since some people had their records stretch back as far as five years.
This tells you that they might even be collecting other kinds of data on us which we have not come to find out yet.
When confronted, the company claimed to only be helping internet users aggregate their purchases over time. Knowing how data-hungry Google is, though, we don't think anyone believed that claim for a moment.
Consider tweaking your Google privacy settings to ensure they are not collecting any data which they don’t have any business with.
#4 Voice Assistants
Voice assistants have come to change the way we interact with the hardware in the home. Leveraging the internet of things, we can use these devices to turn on/ off the light, music, set the ambiance, text someone, look something up on the internet, or even make an online purchase.
To use them will usually require a wake phrase – such as ‘OK Google’ for the Google Home accessories.
What if we told you, though, that these devices are quietly listening in on you – and you didn’t even need to have said the wake phrase for that to happen?
Google was caught out on this, and they have claimed the snippets of conversations that they gather is to improve the service of their products.
#5 Your Turn
This list has shown that there are a handful of small things that impact the state of our data privacy and security more than we know. Which one have you also found out for yourself in the past? Share with us in the comments – and hear others speak of their experiences too.
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