WIKI Page - Online Privacy
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Description
We are living in the age where if one’s not careful about his/her security of personal information while surfing the Internet, every bit of it can make the “tour around the world” in a few seconds. Over the years new tools were developed, meant to mine and manipulate online data trail to build a detailed database of personal information. Also another set of programs are built in order to find these programs and block them from transferring data from a PC.
How to achieve Online - Privacy
- Anti-cookie measures
When browsing the Internet the users are highly susceptible to download tones of cookies. In general a HTML cookie is being used for legitimate reasons; a cookie will store information about a visited web-page and note about one’s personal information. Unfortunately they can and are used in order to track down personal users information and to distribute it over the Internet. In this case it is most likely the user will want either a safe web-browser that will control cookies (i.e. Firefox or Opera), or a “cookie scanner” (i.e. an Antivirus with cookie detection).
- ISP information collecting
In general an ISP (Internet Service Provider) will not gather information about the user or the user’s PC but if this should occur there are ways of avoiding it. One of those ways is to have encrypted connection in order to exchange information on the Internet.
- Tools with data logging options
Any tool with data logging option will collect information from your computer. If not properly secured any third party could gain access to it. In this case it is recommended to use a firewall that will limit application access to the Internet.
- Anti – spyware tools
Spyware has grown past beyond simple monitoring the user’s behavior to collecting personal information and use it for installing unwanted and unapproved software, changing the home page, accessing blindly web-page and by this causing harmful viruses. It is a known fact that the users needs to have on anti- spyware tool installed.
- Anti – Phishing methods
Phishing is a method of collecting important personal information like passwords, credit card information or usernames from financial web-sites. Anti – Phishing methods include browsers that can alert users for malicious web-sites or using an Antispam tool on order to reduce the number of phishing emails.
What to look for
In general the protection level can either use multiple dedicated software to combat specific issues – like a special tool for cookie deletion, or a dedicated antispyware; on the other hand, one could try to use a single tool, that will enable security on many levels, from firewall to antivirus and antispyware. It is very important to know what is lost when using one system, and what is gained using another. For example, using single dedicated tools, for various reasons (like online privacy) means that more and more memory will have to be split between them. Instead, using a multiple featured tool (like any internet security software) means that everything is meant to work together, and will most likely not waste your energy. On the upside, using a dedicated Ethical and online privacy issues in electronic commercetool means that everything possible has been invested in that field (a stand-alone firewall will most likely provide multiple features then one integrated in a multi purpose tool).
