As the world becomes more ubiquitous with having an ‘online’ presence, it’s important to start thinking about how much of ‘you’ would be shared online.
So why should it matter data is collected about me? It’s not like I do anything out of the ordinary – but that’s just the problem of thinking. A way I think about this is, I don’t mind someone knowing the appearance of my house or the location, but things I do and have inside the house – I would be cautious before sharing that information.
My approach in this guide is about starting to be more restrictive with your data and increase of your own security. This is a constantly updated starter guide on tips and tricks for keeping privacy online.
Browsers
Try to not use Chrome –
The list is long, but tldr; it comes at the cost of your data.
Recommended (which imo is the easiest) is Firefox. Feel free to download other privacy centric browsers as well such as Brave and LibreWolf.
Firefox list of add-ons to help manage with your privacy, which can be found here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/
- uBlock Origin
- Smart HTTPS
- Decentraleyes
- Cookie AutoDelete
- Multi Containers
- Link Cleaner
- Privacy Badger
Installing a new browser is the first step to regaining control over your internet privacy. There are a couple of browsers listed here as well.
Search Engine
Privacy-focused search engines are made to give you more control over your personal information when you search online. They try to collect less of your data and follow you around less than big search engines like Google or Bing. I personally use DuckDuckGo and this has worked well for me. They also have their own web crawler and is partially open-sourced.
Some other options:
- Startpage (Obtains Google search results with your privacy)
- Brave Search
2FA Apps
2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) apps is to enhance the security of online accounts and services. It’s generally recommended to use a dedicated 2FA app over SMS-based 2FA, as SMS can be more vulnerable to SIM swapping attacks and interception. For privacy focused ones, I have some listed below. However… I think you can use apps from Google, Microsoft, and other companies as well because the essence of how these apps operate is the same amongst most 2FA apps.
VPNs
A VPN is like a secret tunnel that hides your online activities. It makes your data hard to understand for others, stops websites from tracking you, and lets you access blocked content. It’s useful on public Wi-Fi, stops advertisers from following you, and can keep your personal info safer. Just make sure to pick a good VPN and use it for legal and responsible things.
- Mullvad (Based in Sweden, I’ve used this one for years and is quick and simple to use!)
- NordVPN (Based in Panama)
- And more listed here
There’s also decentralized VPNs, but I think its complicated to setup in the beginning so easier to stick to VPNs that are simple to get started with.
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