{"id":7037,"date":"2012-11-08T11:46:45","date_gmt":"2012-11-08T18:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/?p=7037"},"modified":"2015-03-06T09:21:07","modified_gmt":"2015-03-06T17:21:07","slug":"top-5-fast-and-easy-ways-to-improve-your-privacy-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/top-5-fast-and-easy-ways-to-improve-your-privacy-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Fast and Easy Ways to Improve Your Privacy Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was recently sent (in the actual mail, no less!) an interesting article from the Delta in-flight magazine about security and privacy<\/a>. It gives a good, easy-to-understand explanation of why Internet privacy is now such a tricky matter. And it mentions some common tools that are useful when people really need to lock their traffic down so that it cannot be tracked.<\/p>\n

But there are many very reasonable and less drastic ways to improve your privacy without locking your machine down so tight it becomes less usable. I present to you 5 fast and easy ways you can improve your privacy.<\/p>\n

1. Search Anonymously<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve talked a lot about how search results can be used to identify someone, even if no personally identifiable information is ever entered. So whether you want to hide a particularly sensitive search or would like to make a habit of searching anonymously, there are several options for good replacement search engines<\/a>.\u00a0Two of the most popular options are DuckDuckGo<\/a> and Ixquick<\/a>. Both are multi-engine browsers, and DuckDuckGo allows you to choose which search engine you would like to power your search. Start Page<\/a> is a Google-only version of Ixquick if you prefer to just have a Google-powered search. Chrome also has an “Incognito Mode<\/a>,” but that only prevents your web searches from being recorded in your Google Web History. Google has instructions on how to turn off your Google Web History<\/a> if you want to go a step further.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Tweak Your Facebook Privacy Settings<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t want to be tracked on the Internet, a great place to start making changes is on Facebook. The first place to start with this is on your Privacy Settings page. A lot of apps and websites are linked with Facebook in ways you may not be aware of, and this is the place to change that.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a list of settings you should pay particular attention to:<\/p>\n