Let's Talk About Computer Privacy

Protecting Your PC Privacy

There are new users purchasing a computer daily for handling their items on line. Many of these users do not understand the importance of protecting their information from prying eyes. If the computer does not have the proper protection in place then anyone can grab your personal information.

This information then will be sold over the Internet to companies that will use the information pretending to be you. On another level, i.e. the interpersonal level, there are many people out there who would make use of web-based services in order to obtain information pertaining to the personal background of the internet users. The criminals sift through information like personal details of users in order to create forged identities, thus committing identity theft crime.

The information which would have taken a good amount of laborious hours to copy by hand can now be obtained by criminals in minutes thanks to the advancement in technology.

It does not matter if you are at work or if you are at home on your personal computer the information can be accessed. One of the easiest ways for people to access information is through the cookies that are stored on a computer. The cookies are stored when you are surfing the Internet looking at different websites and items.

Computer privacy can be defined as the power belonging to an individual that enables him/her to conceal certain truths about one and also to control how one’s truth can be used by others. However the concept of privacy does not just encompass the power to hide things, it is also all about integrity, autonomy and self-possession.

One of the steps that you can follow in order to maintain privacy online is to look for privacy policies on the websites. Since websites have the power to collect information like the type of computer, hardware, software, etc you are using or the names of websites you are visiting, etc you can maintain your privacy by only visiting the websites with privacy policy.

If a website that you visit frequently does not happen to have one then you can write and inform them that your privacy as a user is highly important for you and hence they should post a privacy policy.

Also, adopt the good habit of keeping your professional and personal life separate, so create a separate account and use that as your personal email instead of using your work account since that might be monitored by your employer. In real life you would not walk up to a stranger and just give them all your personal information.

This is the same practice you need to use when doing transactions over the Internet. Just because someone is asking for your information does not mean that you have to give it to them. Always use caution before releasing any of your information to a company or a person that you do not know about.

One should also keep in mind that the browser cache has to be cleared after each browsing. You can use the ‘Empty Cache’ button for this purpose. Also, when filling out online forms make sure that they are encrypted and secure so that no third party can have access to your personal details. You can also use encryption in order to keep your email private and use anonymous browsing.