Whether its hackers looking to engage in identity theft, Facebook collecting and selling your info to advertisers, or government agencies spying on your online activities, there are a lot of people that want to get their hands on your personal data.
This makes protecting your privacy and security online so important, but perhaps you’re not sure how to make this happen. Well, installing a few privacy-enhancing apps and switching to services offered by privacy protection companies is the first step in the right direction.
And it really isn’t as much work as you think! With users having access to more security and privacy protection tools than ever before, we have taken the liberty to list our top 6 picks to step up your online privacy and security game. So, let’s get started:
PureVPN
It’s no secret that every move you make online is being tracked not only by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the government, but also by corporations, advertisers, as well as other unknown entities. However it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way, no?
With PureVPN, you can browse the web anonymously and securely. Not only is your data protected with AES 256-bit encryption, but also with access to 750+ Ozone-ready VPN servers you can go about your online activities without having to worry about malicious traffic, annoying ads and malware!
HTTPS Everywhere
Websites without Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) certification are unsafe and could leave you vulnerable to eavesdropping, man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks and various other web-based threats.
The HTTPS Everywhere browser extension ensures the data communicated between your device and the website is encrypted. It automatically enforces SSL/TLS protection to all websites you visit, making it a must-have browser extension!
DuckDuckGo
While Google provides instant answers to just about any imaginable question, the fact remains: they track your every move online and sell that data to advertisers. Therefore, you’re better off moving to a more privacy-conscious alternative like DuckDuckGo.
Unlike most of the search engines you’ve used, they don’t collect or share your personal information with third-parties. No cookies are used and neither is your IP address logged against the searches you make. Cool, right?
Signal
Since the government listens in on your communications, end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is the best way to ensure the security of your private messages. You’ll find a lot of instant messaging apps out there offering this feature, but the one we’d recommend is Signal because it’s cryptographically sound.
It’s probably the best-known instant messenger for users concerned about their privacy. You can place voice and video calls, send messages to individuals and groups, share media, and more. There’s even a “disappearing messages” feature that removes sent messages after a certain period of time.
Mozilla Firefox
Chances are that you use either Safari, Chrome, Edge, or Explorer as your default browser to surf the Internet. But these aren’t the only web browsers available and you’ll find plenty of other options that focus on privacy.
Firefox is fast, minimalist, reliable, and respects your privacy. It keeps your information safe with Private Browsing mode, password features, as well as other security settings. There are also a long list of add-ons that you can use to further secure and privatize your experience on Firefox.
Cookie AutoDelete
While not all web cookies are bad and help improve your experience on websites, third-party cookies can be a huge privacy concern as they follow you around the Internet and track your behavior across different sites.
The Cookie AutoDelete browser extension automatically deletes cookies from closed tabs and also allows you to greylist and whitelist support for cookies. It even shows you the number of cookies for every site that you visit!
Final Word
Keeping your personal data out of the reach of prying eyes can feel like an uphill task. However, you’ll come across companies out there, such as the one’s we’ve mentioned above, that actually value your privacy and security. So, which tools will you try first? Please let us know in the comments section below!
