Ok right off the bat I just want to say that I can not take credit for this blog post. I am just reposting some very useful information that I have came across. A few months ago I was on the StumbleUpon app and came across this newsletter site of sorts called the Daily Zen List. You can basically subscribe to it by email and each day they will send you one email that has some pretty fun topics, alot of them are very useful like the one I am about to share with you guys. Here is the link to the site if you would like to go subscribe to them. Just scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and click on SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL.
Anyway, back to the topic of this post. As we all know it seems like hackers are everywhere now on the internet. The problem just keeps get worse and worse. Not to mention sites like facebook really not protecting your privacy at all and infact selling your info to third parties. I hate it and want to stop it but if your someone like me, I knew virtually nothing when it came to taking the steps to protect myself as best as I could. So when I got this email from The Daily Zen List I knew right away I had to share it with all of you so that you could take the necessary steps to start protecting yourselves as well. So without further ramblings, I will cut to the chase. Hope you enjoy the info.
xoxo,
1. Use StartPage.com instead of Google Search. StartPage.com will give you the same search results as Google, without tracking you like Google does. For another alternative to Google, check out DuckDuckGo.com.
2. Install KeePass to save and encrypt your passwords. KeePass allows you to make long, complex, and unique passwords for all your accounts and stores them in a place that cannot be accessed by anyone but you.
3. Encrypt uploaded files with BoxCryptor. If you back up files to the cloud, make sure they are encrypted so nobody else can access them.
4. Use StartMail.com instead of Gmail. Smartmail.com claims it’s the “world’s most private email.” The program is still in beta, so you might run into a few bugs, but unfortunately there aren’t many alternatives out there.
5. Use a VPN. A VPN will encrypt your connection and give you an anonymous IP address. If that is too much for you, download Chromium and tinker with the privacy settings.
6. Download the Ghostery and DoNotTrackMe
7. Use Piwik.org instead of Google Analytics. If you have your own website, use piwik.org to track your traffic statistics. Piwik allows your readers to keep their IP addresses private. It’s also free and open source.
8. Visit TOSDR.org before registering an account. If you are worried about online accounts stealing your information, check out TOSDR.org to read an abbreviated version of your terms of service.
9. Switch up your usernames. Use different usernames for different online accounts. No two accounts should have similar names. Do not post your personal information to your online accounts.
10. Consider downloading Tor or the PirateBrowser. Tor allows you to browse the web anonymously. The PirateBrowser is a bundle of stuff that the guys from Pirate Bay put together (it also includes Tor). Read more about Tor here.
11. Join reddit.com/r/privacy. At this subreddit you can follow all the latest privacy news and tips. Also check out their FAQ for other steps you can take to protect your privacy.
