Free Internet Isn’t So Free
- Why should I care?
Because, what you do today will be with you for the rest of your life.
Suppose you post a picture and delete it from your social media page. It’s not gone. It’s still out there and can be accessed and taken by anyone at any time. What if that someone hangs the picture of you on a wall in their house? That’s creepy! Or, because anything you do or share online can be seen, collected, distributed, sold, and even copied.
2. How do websites identify & track me?
When your device requests a webpage.
When you access the Internet, your IP Address (a unique string of numbers that identifies a computer), computer operating system, browser type, and other location identifiers, are tagged to a Unique Identifier (UID). Your UID makes it possible to identify you and see what you access & interact with. Your UID can be mapped with your browsing habits, which makes it possible to identify you.
When you log into your account within a webpage.
When downloading a webpage, within a website, you connect to several 3rd party sites through browser loaded cookies & trackers.
These websites can also have:
- web bugs
- analytics
- fingerprinting cookies
- sleeper cookies
- tagging cookies
- everlasting cookies
They are watching your EVERY move, grabbing your data, saving it for themselves and often times selling it to other companies collecting data on you.
3. Who else could be tracking me?
Your Internet & Mobile Service Provider or Wi-Fi hotspots can record your data.
4. Is all of this tracking even legal?
Yes, it sure is!
When you access a webpage or check the proverbial “agree” box, you are agreeing to the website’s Terms of Service & Privacy Policy.
5. How do I get control, prevent tracking, & protect my privacy?
Step 1: Access the Internet through a Proxy (web) or VPN connection.
Step 2: Prevent and block cookies, trackers, web bugs & 3rd party content when accessing a web page.
Step 3: Prevent active cookies from tracking you across multiple sites.
Step 4: Update your Adobe Flash Cookie settings
