how to control the information you share online

Certainly a lot of people weren’t happy about the news that Google has been circumventing Apple Safari’s and Internet Explorer’s privacy settings. Millions of people use these browsers (both for desktop and mobile computing) and this type of news is something that won’t be received well. What’s the use of tweaking the security settings of your browser when it cannot really protect your privacy, right?

This is of course alarming especially after Google just changed its privacy policy when it announced to its users that it will share their personal information from one Google application to the other. Thus, when you use Google to search for electronic toys for instance, you’ll see this search pattern which ever Google application you use and the next thing you know, you’ll see your browser displaying ads or just about anything about electronic toys, following you around like a plague.

But you can actually control the information you share online. If your browsers cannot really protect your online privacy, you can probably solve the issue by targeting the heart of the matter – Google. You can change your Google settings to stop your browsers from sharing too much information. When you go to your Google Accounts’ Dashboard, you will see all the Google services that you are using and all the information that you are sharing. From there, you can then edit or remove the information that you currently share and you would want to remain private.

It is understood however that you will feel skeptical about tweaking Google settings especially after the news about Google bypassing its users’ privacy settings. Thus, if you don’t think adjusting Google’s
Privacy Tools works, there are other ways to protect information online as follows:

• Browse Privately. 
  Web browsers like Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox now feature private browsing which protects browsing habits and online privacy. Private browsing allows users to delete their browsing history and all the information they shared while online. Some browser add-ons however still record this information. Firefox don’t control these add-ons but Internet Explorer does. Once a user sets IE to InPrivate Browsing, all extensions and add-ons are disabled, thus preventing them from recording the users’ private information. To turn on InPrivate Browsing, you can simply click the Safety button on your browser and then click InPrivate Browsing or press the keys CTRL+SHIFT+P on your keyboard.

• Browse Anonymously.
  Websites know its visitor IP address and sometimes exploit this information to their advantage by bombarding them with annoying ads and the like. One way of avoiding giving out IP information to a website is to browse anonymously by not going directly to the website but instead, using an intermediate website or more popularly known as a proxy. You can justbrowse for proxies on your favorite search engine and you’ll find numerous proxy sites that offer anonymous browsing, even for free. You will have to choose carefully though as there are some proxies that may cause your browser to perform slowly. Obviously, you wouldn’t want to have a slow computing experience, you want to speed up your PC’s performance. Speed is another important element of online browsing aside from privacy and security.

• Browse Cautiously. 
  This is a very simple tip but some people can’t seem to stop themselves from giving way too much private information online. True, there are sites wherein you are compelled to givetruthful information such as LinkedIn or other networking and job sites but it would help if you don’t give unnecessary details about yourself. If you don’t really need to join a social networking site, then don’t; it will definitely help increase your online privacy.

 Author Bio:
I am a Computer Engineer by virtue of education and have been employed as a Software Engineer, a Business Analyst, a College Instructor, a Technical Trainer, and a Freelance Writer in different industries including the Academe, IT, SEO and Product Distribution. I currently teach Microsoft Office 2010 in a college in Hawaii and write technical articles for PC Speed Up.