Internet users are increasingly aware that privacy is a relevant factor. Every time we go on the Internet, our private information and data can be compromised when visiting a web page or using some type of software. Although we are not aware of it, simply by browsing the network of networks we are leaving a digital trail. All that data that we are leaving behind is being collected by companies, your Internet provider, governments and more. In this article, we’re going to cover the best ways to make it more difficult for them to collect your data.
Tips to make data collection difficult
By always using the same resources and tools, we are facilitating data collection. For this reason, we must have a decentralized and varied policy that prevents them from collecting your data. Next, we are going to offer a series of tips to make the task difficult for you.
Have multiple email addresses and phone numbers
Data collectors often use your email and phone number to identify you and verify your identity. What we have to do when we surf the Internet is to keep our different parts of our lives separate.
We are going to start with the email, in this case we could opt for a strategy in which we have a minimum of three emails, which would be:
- For work.
- One for personal relationships (family and friends).
- Another for requests for information. For example, information about a product or company that we hesitate to hire.
However, if we have many doubts about whether to give our address, we would have the possibility of using a temporary email. As for the telephone number, we could choose to have one for work and another for personal use.
Do not use your real data in subscriptions
Sometimes some companies try to collect your data, urging you to sign up for their mailing lists. In return, they often offer coupons, discounts and other gifts. These data that are collected are usually used by companies for their internal promotions. However, sometimes those databases end up being sold to other organizations.
The best we can do to avoid this is to use a fake name to register on unnecessary web pages. For example, using a name different from ours and that third minimum email that we must have that we talked about before. So, unless it’s absolutely necessary, there are usually few benefits to make our actual data worth giving.
Be careful with using bank cards
Another way to collect your data is through the use we make of our bank cards. Their way of use can cause them to create a profile of us. Some financial companies insinuate our economic situation in relation to the purchases we make. For example, if we make many small purchases with our cards, they may think that we are in financial trouble.
At that time they may think that we need a credit and we will begin to receive loan offers from different companies, some of them may even be of dubious reputation. For this reason, for small purchases if possible, it is advisable to use cash payment.
Cookies and Internet history
When collecting your data, cookies are usually a very important source for collecting your data. Even after you have left a web page, they can be used to offer you targeted advertising. Surely, after having visited a web page in search of a product, on another website and even after a short time in your email you have received information about that product you just visited. An example of this is Adware Tracking Cookies.
To maintain privacy we may choose to disable cookies. The only thing that has a drawback: on some pages they are completely necessary. We refer to those that require a login with our credentials. One option could be to have a separate browser, to browse anonymously. On the other hand, it also prevents them from collecting your data, entering your browser settings or configuration and then deleting cookies, history and data cache. This should be done regularly, about every week or two.
Be careful what you post on social media
In this aspect, you have to be very careful with what is published on social networks. Thanks to them they can collect your data and create a very complete profile of us. For that reason, you have to act with common sense and think things through before publishing something.
Other advice is not to share information about our health on the Internet. The reasons are several, we could end up receiving targeted advertising on products that we need. It could also harm us in the future when applying for a job. That information of ours could also be sold to insurance companies and when we went to contract it could be more expensive.
Finally, you also have to be very careful with smart home devices, as they can also collect your data. In this aspect you have to take into account that they also keep a complete history of your queries.