As the threat of cyber-attack, phishing, hacking, ransom ware, etc., become increasingly common, you might be trying to stay cautious. Also, you would be keen to monitor the news and trends related to cyber security. People normally understand the threat imposed by a vast range of cybercriminal activities. These threats range from phishing emails to crypto attacks. We all are aware of these and take different precautions daily to protect our workplaces from cyber-attacks.
Yet, when a question arises regarding digital privacy, online privacy, or internet privacy, it seems people are not vigilant. We voluntarily provide our personal data to different social media companies or to the developers of a free workout app with no hesitation. We remain diligent to protect our data at our workplaces, but remain careless when it comes to online personal data protection.
Four Free Tools for Online Privacy
You can make your mind whether your online privacy is at its best to defend you or not. If you like to be in control of your digital privacy, here is the list of free privacy tools that will help you. You should use them to secure your data in a better way. If that isn’t enough, you can always use a VPN for anonymous secure browsing.
You don’t need to compromise your convenience to secure your internet privacy. Read on and by the time you reach the end of this post, you will have control over your digital privacy.
DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
If you feel concerned about your online privacy, you probably have heard of DuckDuckGo. It took off as a search engine but has now expanded quite a bit. It is a browser, and neither tracks your searches nor acts as an anti-tracking tool.
The captioned tool doesn’t share or collect users’ personal data. This means similar search results are visible to various users because of no user profiling. This is all in contrast to how Google operates. Consequently, Google Chrome is not helpful at all if you are worried about your online privacy.
HTTPS Everywhere
A secured website having a valid Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate starts with “HTTP”. The protocol HTTPS authenticates all websites you access and gives the integrity and privacy of the data exchanged over different networks.
Most websites will have an HTTPS connection, but sometimes you might be redirected to an insecure HTTP version. When ‘HTTPS Everywhere’ is installed in your Chrome browser, it will auto-switch the website from the HTTP copy to the HTTPS version.
UBLOCK Origin
If you need a free browser extension to filter content, uBlock Origin is the best online privacy tool. It includes an ad-blocking feature as well. Make sure you install “uBlock Origin” and not mere “uBlock”. It uses less CPU and memory time and is lightweight too. This means web browsing can be done and you can block ads faster than other ad blockers.
UBLOCK Origin is simple to use. You only need to click the power button in the pop-up to disable or enable uBlock Origin for the website you are using. It also offers you control over what is allowed and what is blocked.
Similarly, you can create your rules, filters, and add websites to your whitelist. However, advanced users have to stick with the default settings and they won’t need to deal with obtrusive ads.
LastPass
All password managers are huge fans of LastPass. It takes care of various tedious tasks such as:
- Comes up with strong passwords for online accounts,
- Remembers the associated usernames and passwords
- Files web-forms.
Therefore, it allows you to the application of your mental resources where they are most needed. It helps you in becoming more productive. LastPass encrypts your passwords and securely stores them in a vault which you can access through a master password. After installing this browser extension and after logging in, all you need is to click the LastPass icon next to the field of a username and pick the associated account. This automatically fills in your login credentials.
Word of Caution
Not all extensions of Chrome are safe. Extensions usually are developed by third-parties to fix vulnerabilities or to enhance productivity. Google assesses the extensions available in its Web-store, but sometimes mess happens.
Therefore, before installing any extension developed by an unknown third-party, read its reviews, screen its ratings, and conduct a quick online search. If you are unsure, it is best to avoid the extension installation.
Conclusion
The World Wide Web (www) has revolutionized the globe by providing you the ability to reach millions around the world. Unfortunately, not everyone is nice to whom you reach. There are quite a few who keep malicious intent and try to exploit the digital weaknesses of businesses and individuals. However, you don’t need to worry as you have covered these four essential online privacy tools.
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