Privacy In A Tech-Driven World – What Is Internet Privacy?
Internet privacy is a term that all internet users should pay special attention to. It’s the right to have your personal privacy related to storage, provision of data to third parties, and the displaying of personal information via the Internet.
Privacy via the internet entails either Personally Identifying Information or non-personal information such as a visitor’s behaviour on a website. Personally Identifying information is any information that can be used to identify a person, like their age and physical address.
Levels Of Privacy
Would you consider posting your credit card numbers, bank account numbers, social security numbers, medical records and text messages on Facebook? More than likely your answer is a booming “No”! But sadly, when internet users are not careful, this is exactly what can happen. A hacker or another malicious actor could steal your information and post it publicly, despite your objection. The problem with privacy is that most internet users don’t see its value until they lose control of their personal information, and by then it’s too late.
Posting things on the web can be harmful and some information posted on the Internet is permanent, depending on the terms of service, and privacy policies of the online service. This can include comments written on blogs, pictures and Facebook. Once your information is online, it’s absorbed into cyberspace and anyone can potentially find it and access it. Some employers even use these methods to research a potential employee by seeing what their online behaviours are, and this could possibly affect the outcome of their success or failure in securing an employment.
Companies like Facebook and Google rely on collecting massive amounts of data about people and using it for convenience. They are the main advocates against privacy protection because their business models rely on collecting as much of your information as possible.
Privacy vs. Security – What’s the Difference?
Security and privacy don’t mean the same thing, although they are closely related. An online service can be secure but not at all private.
Privacy has more to do with your personal data being protected and free from being observed by other people. Control over who can access your data is an important consideration and you need to be able to control who can access your information
Security, on the other hand is related to protecting and keeping unwanted parties from accessing your information. So while privacy is more about keeping eyes off your personal data, security is about keeping your information private after it’s been collected.
Privacy In A Tech Driven World – How To Stay Protected
Data breaches, marketing companies tracking your every online click, shady people exploring the photos you share on social networks, and so the list continues. However, it’s not completely hopeless, you can have control of your privacy. Here’s how to improve your privacy online.
Use a VPN
VPNs or Virtual Private Networks are popular tools that can extend a private network across a public network meaning that users can send and receive data across shared or public networks and it would seem as if the computing devices were directly connected to a private network. VPN’s protects your identity by moving your internet connection to a different location so that you aren’t easily identifiable to websites that track you.
These days VPNs are very popular, but they were not originally created for the same reasons we use them. When VPN’s came onto the internet scene, they were a way to connect business networks together securely over the internet so that the users could access a business network from home. In very simple terms, a VPN connects your PC, smartphone, or tablet to another computer somewhere on the internet, and thus allows you to browse the internet using their internet connection, for example, you may use a VPN to access information in another country.
You can use a VPN to protect yourself from snooping in Wi-Fi hotspots and generally gain some anonymity online by hiding your true location. By combining a VPN with other privacy tools like passwords, you can take your privacy protection to an even higher level.
Create Strong Passwords
Your password is your first line of defense against hackers that might try and access your accounts. Protect yourself by using passwords that aren’t easily guessed and opt for passwords that are long and use a mixture of letters, numbers and symbols. Avoid using your name or any other information that people could easily guess.
Use Password Managers
Every service or website you log in to will need a secure password and it can be difficult to remember them all. A password managers can solve this problem for you as it assists in generating, storing and retrieving complex passwords in an encrypted database. If you’re looking for options, you can try KeePass, LastPass and Apple’s Keychain.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
This simply means that you’ll have to use more than just a password to log into a site, for example a code sent to you via text message or email or any other type of data. There are different different ways in which someone can be authenticated using more than one authentication method. You’ll need to enter your user name and password and thereafter answer a question like your favourite pet’s name or your favourite holiday destination.
Secure Your Home Devices
While it’s very cool and trendy to turn down your air conditioning with the help of an app on your smartphone or use Alexa to order your pizza and check the weather. Make it your business to secure your entire home network starting with any internet-enabled voice assistants. Use a unique Wi-Fi password and with the help of a password manager, change the default name of connected devices and consider renaming your voice assistant.
Of course we can use all the innovative technology that surrounds us without compromising our privacy and security but by being aware of the risks and taking the necessary steps, we can enjoy all of the benefits of our tech driven world without the hassles of being hacked.
Online Casino Gaming – What Makes A Secure Casino?
Playing your favourite casino games online has become one of the most popular entertainment pastimes and more and more players look for secure casinos where their privacy is protected. But what makes an online casino safe to play at?
In order to play real money games at an online casino, you’ll need to part with sensitive banking data as well as personal information like your name, address and date of birth. A safe to play at online casino uses sophisticated technical security to ensure your data is completely protected. You may have heard of data encryption, it is a 128 or 256-bit encryption which will convert your personal and financial information into strings of unbreakable code. Encryption technology makes it difficult, if not impossible for a hacker to access the information in the database and this is crucial for an online casino that has personal and financial player information to keep safe. Always make sure the casino you join offers nothing less than 128-bit SSL data encryption as anything less will not offer you the security you need. So when you’re looking for a safe online casino where you can enjoy playing your favourite games, look for encryption by checking the top of your screen, it should say https in front of their website name. Online casinos with an SSL certificate means that you can safely hand over your financial details as the information is encrypted and the website is safe to play at. Basically a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) receives information between your pc and the casino and encrypts it so it cannot be hacked. Online casinos also use top notch computer security software to prevent an attack from viruses, spyware or malware.
Just take a look at our Casinos for yourself!
Privacy Policy
One of the first things you’ll need to look out for when you’re trying to determine just how legitimate and secure an online casino is will be the privacy policy. Every online casino must have a privacy policy clearly outlined on their site. Most online casinos offer it directly on their homepage somewhere near the bottom part of the page. Review this information and make sure you agree with it before you decide to download the casino software and register for a player account. Make absolutely sure the online casino is going to offer you the level of security you need and more importantly, will not sell your information to others.
Final Words
Your home security network is only as strong as its weakest link and today’s security might not be what is tomorrow’s, but by following a few simple guidelines will keep your personal and financial information safe and your identity private. Privacy is about shutting and locking our front door and learning to do so digitally is crucial when we use the internet with increasing regularity. Let’s face it, the internet touches so many parts of our lives these days and in it’s in our interest to do whatever it takes to keep our privacy in a tech driven world.
Employing all the above steps will help improve your protection while online and using a VPN and changing your password regularly and ensuring it’s complicated enough to not be hacked are good habits to adopt while surfing the world wide web.