“Lose 10 pounds in two days! Unmask the latest diet craze that will make you the envy of all your friends!”
“See what this mom did just to get the perfect picture! (Reader caution advised)”
“The number one reason why you should NEVER go on roller coasters with your hair down!”
How many of the above topics sound at least somewhat familiar to you? And how many times have you clicked on similar ones?
Is there anything more annoying than internet ads?
True, being attacked very slowly by hundreds of fuzzy kittens might take first place – Touché. But internet ads come in at a close second.
Chances are that you have heard at least a little bit about the debate between internet advertisers and publishers versus the makers and proponents of ad blocking software. It’s a debate that neither side wants to lose, nor do they want to make any concessions. And the ramifications might very well be huge.
Have you ever tried searching for yourself on Google? Sure, it might seem like fun to see how many times you come up in a Google search. You’ll find your Facebook profile, a talkback you posted a few years ago and some whitepages.com results. Nothing too interesting there. But when you think about it, the very fact that you do come up means you’re being tracked. And it’s all thanks to cookies.
In a past post we discussed how to keep yourself safe from identity fraud. Our ever-increasing reliance on “all things digital” creates the perfect storm for hackers to steal not only passwords and logins, but our very identities, too. Previously, we highlighted some of the most important tactics you need to be aware of to keep your personal details secure in a world that seems to hemorrhage information. With the right habits and tools, you lessen your chances of becoming part of an ID fraud statistic.
But sometimes, you can be doing all the right things, and through no fault of your own, wind up compromised, as was seen in the too-many-to-count hacks of 2015. Last year was truly a watershed year in terms of hacks and it’s estimated that over one half of American adults had their identity compromised in some way. If you were one of those people, there are some things you can do to minimize the impact of the loss of that private information. And when it comes to your identity, time isn’t really on your side. Don’t spend precious moments wondering what to do next, just get going with anything and everything you can to reduce the damage.
Now that the holiday season is behind us, it’s time to get back to the important things in life, the things that really matter most – presents. Chances are, among your pile o’ gifts there were some internet-connected gadgets and they, like any internet-connected device, can be a security and privacy risk.
We’ve come up with some simple things you can do to guarantee your privacy without much hassle.
