How to share only important data when browsing the Internet
Whether you like it or not, if you browse the Internet, you will leave a trail of information. There’s no way to completely stop Google, Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram from knowing who you are, what you like, or who your friends are. But if you use a few tricks, you can avoid sharing more information with these platforms, or any others you can think of, than is strictly necessary.
The National Cyber Security Institute (Incibe) has put together some tips that can be very useful for anyone who wants to use the Internet with maximum privacy. At ABC, we’re adding a couple more that let you stop apps on your smartphone from knowing you any better than necessary.
Choose the best browser
Not all browsers are created equal and do not collect the same user data. There are people who are more respectful of privacy. Although Google Chrome is by far the most used, there are better options in the market. At least if you want to share less information.
“For example, Brave is a browser that offers the user a more private browsing experience with many features such as blocking ads, trackers, malicious code execution and cookies. Additionally, it allows you to search privately and anonymously by offering a VPN service in its mobile app (premium feature),” they note from Incibe. Another highly recommended option is Opera, which hides your IP address, has a free VPN, and filters out malicious pages.
And also a search engine
If Chrome is the king of browsers, it’s largely because Google is the king of search engines. And this makes sense because the engine is very good at directing the user to the information they want to get. But again, this is not the most respectful of user privacy. And here one of the most recommended is DuckDuckGo.
“DuckDuckGo is the leading search engine that helps you stay private online. Although it stores your search history, it does not store information such as your location or IP address. A priori, neither DuckDuckGo nor third parties will be able to link your personal data with your search history,” Incibe notes.
Management Permissions
No matter how hard you try, if you are a social media user, tech companies will know you well. However, you can easily limit the data they have about you by doing some settings on your phone. For example, you can block access to your location, contacts stored in your phone book, and your photos. Removing this last permission can be difficult because every time you want to download an image or video, you will have to fiddle with the device for a while; but if you want to keep your data as safe as possible, this is the most recommended option.
Avoid tracking
You can also prevent apps you install from tracking your online activity, building a profile of you, and conducting advertising business using your information. Apple devices, as well iPhone, they force app developers to obtain explicit permission from users in order to track them. IN Android There are solutions you can download, like the DuckDuckGo app, that make collecting this information more difficult.