As humans we do a lot of things. Most of them are part of our daily schedule like our jobs and day to day activities. Some of the activities are personal that we do not share with others. Imagine a situation where cameras are installed everywhere in your house including your bedroom and bathroom. Would you be comfortable with this? I believe most of them would not like it. This is just one example. There are bigger things at risk. Even governments want to track every move of their citizens. Their only objective is to retain power for the longest possible time. Therefore, privacy protection should always be one of our top priorities. We live in a technologically connected world. Due to this the information we search on the internet and the data we have in the computer is always at risk.
Why is personal information protection is Important?
There is a very simple answer to this question. If you want to make sure nobody can access personal information. What if someone knows about the videos you watch on the internet and the website you browse in your personal time. What if someone has all the information about your family and has access to your personal emails. It can become a threat. Therefore privacy protection is important.
Privacy Protection – How to save personal information from getting stolen?
There are many thighs you can do to protect privacy. But my objective is not to confuse you with a lot of technical details. Use these simple methods of privacy protection.
1 – Password Protection for Privacy Protection
There are many people and companies who are into the business of invading privacy. They just want to get into your PC and see what you are doing. Some companies even have software for hacking computers. Due to this, first of all, keep a password on your computer. Make sure the password is a little tough to crack. You can at least keep an alpha numeric (a combination of alphabet and numbers) password.
2 – Two step verification / Two factor authentication
One of the effective ways to protect privacy is two step verification. Some people also call it two factor authentication. In this case, when you enter a password to email (for example), you also get OTP (one time password) on the phone. When you use the OTP you are able to login.
Not just phones, you can also receive OTP on alternate email. There is a standard OTP email template you will receive. As soon as you enter this one time password, you should be able to login. This is also one of the best ways of privacy protection in email.
3 – Use Antivirus Software
Our world revolves around software applications. Therefore, we need to protect software from getting hacked or infected. Antivirus software can help you protect computers from viruses.
4 – Clear Browser History
To protect the privacy of your computer, it is important to remove your footprints from the internet. You should keep deleting your browser history from time to time. Cleaning browser history after you shutdown your computer is a good habit. This not only helps you protect privacy but also to increase computer speed.
5 – Use Private Window of Microsoft Edge or Incognito mode in Google Chrome
If you are using internet explorer or Microsoft Edge browser, you can browse the internet in Private window. If you are using Google Chrome, you can use Incognito mode for browsing the internet. In both these cases, the computer will not store browsing history. Therefore, you can simply take care of privacy protection without much effort.
What is data privacy, why companies steal data?
In simple words, protecting your personal data from unauthorized access is data privacy. Companies need your data for marketing purposes and they are ready to pay the price. Therefore, many individuals hack your details and sell it. Companies buy bulk data for sales. You can also read our detailed article on data privacy.
How can I protect the privacy of personal data?
First of all, make sure you have a password on the computer. If you keep the PC locked, you can block unauthorized access to the computer. You can also use the privacy windows in internet explorer to block browsers from saving history. We have a detailed article on privacy of a person. You can read it for more information.
How data gets stolen when companies have a privacy policy?
If you care about privacy protection, you must know this. If you read the privacy policy of a company, you will find the answer. All companies claim that they care about data but very few actually do it. They use diplomatic language to create privacy policy. For example, you will find this line – “We may use your data for marketing purposes”. The meaning is hidden inside the term. Some companies sell bulk data. Many companies who sell products online buy this data to send bulk emails and do mass texting to generate leads.