The internet has indeed changed the way we acquire information, however, it has also brought issues to do with privacy.
Each time you enter something on the internet, information on your searches can be gathered, processed, and in some cases, sold.
If you want to make your web searches discreet here are five tips you can use.
Using Encrypted Search Engines
There are search engines that use encryption such as DuckDuckGo and StartPage for those who do not want to use Google. Unlike other search engines, these do not record your search history or even develop a profile of how you search. Some of these services will encrypt your search, meaning that your search terms cannot be seen by anyone else.
Using an encrypted search engine is a minor change that can greatly improve your privacy on the Internet. With these tools, you can search without having to worry about being followed or the search data being sold to advertisers. Also, these search engines tend to offer non-prejudiced results since the search outcomes do not depend on the search history.
Employing a VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A VPN hides your IP address and secures your internet connection making your activities more personal. When you use a VPN, your internet connection is redirected through a secure server and this makes it difficult for your ISP, search engines or other third parties to track your movements online.
VPN services are many and some are free and some are paid for. Using free VPNs is not completely unsafe, but it has its drawbacks, for instance, the speed and the amount of traffic. To get better security measures, one needs to use a reliable VPN by Surfshark that will help to protect your search and other Internet sessions.
Utilizing Private Browsing Modes
Many of the current internet browsers have private browsing options for example; Incognito mode in Google Chrome, Private Browsing in Mozilla Firefox and InPrivate mode in Microsoft Edge. When you use private browsing, your browser does not keep any of your search history, cookies or other browsing information once you have closed the window.
Private browsing can be more helpful when you want to search something on a computer that is being used by many people. It is also important to know that with private browsing you are not invisible on the Internet. Although it does not allow the browser to save your information on its local storage, your ISP and the visited websites can monitor your activities. If you want to increase your privacy even more, it is recommended to use private browsing together with VPNs and encrypted search engines.
Clearing Your Search History on a Daily Basis
Another simple method of avoiding your search history is by deleting the history frequently. Some of the search engines and web browsers provide options where users can delete their search history by themselves. This way, you can ensure that other people cannot see what you have been searching for especially if you use the device in the presence of other people.
Besides, it is possible to set the browser to clear the history of searches and other browsing data by itself, for instance, after several days. This automatic clearing is very helpful to clear your search history frequently to minimize the exposure of your search data to other people. Clearing your history also reduces the amount of information that search engines can compile on you, by reducing the frequency of such activity.
Managing Cookies and Tracker Settings
Cookies are text files that are stored on your computer by the websites that you visit. It can be employed to store your preferences and log-in information but at the same time, it can be used to monitor your activities online. It is thus important to control your cookies and trackers settings so as to enhance your privacy while using the internet.
When it comes to cookies, most of the web browsers will enable you to manage the cookies as per your wish and decide which cookies to store in your machine. You can decide to turn off third-party cookies, this is mostly used by advertisers to monitor your activities on the internet. Also, you can install the Privacy Badger or Ghostery browser extension to block trackers and improve your privacy. This means that by altering the cookies and trackers settings, one is able to minimize the amount of information that is gathered about the searches made on the internet as well as the activities conducted on the internet.
