Privacy tip: 5 ways you’re being tracked you must stop right now
Online privacy is an oxymoron. For example, an advertiser ID on your phone is supposed to keep your location anonymous. Are you surprised it doesn’t? Me neither. Tap or click here for steps to see and remove your advertiser ID.
It’s not always advertisers and Big Tech spying. A stranger or someone you know might be poking around your accounts. Tap or click for a quick check you must do to keep your Facebook, Google and Netflix accounts secure.
Privacy isn’t a given. Here are five ways to take as much as you can back.
1. Everyone’s least favorite kind of cookie
You collect cookies when you browse the web on your phone, computer or tablet. These bits of data store information about the websites you visit. Cookies store your logins, personalization settings, advertising information and other details.
The upside is that cookies save images and files and stop you from having to log in every time you visit a site. But these cookies contain a lot of your details. Fortunately, you can delete cookies manually in a few steps.
Tap or click here to delete cookies from your phone. Hit this link for steps to clear cookies from your computer’s browser.
Better yet, use Incognito Mode. When you surf the web Incognito, your browser doesn’t save your history, cookies, site data or information you enter in forms. It does keep any downloaded files or bookmarks created during the session.
Be warned: Your internet service provider can still see your activity, as can a school or employer providing your internet access or computer.
To go Incognito on Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, press Ctrl + Shift + N (or Command + Shift + N on Mac). Tap or click for three times you should always browse Incognito.
For even more privacy, fire up a VPN. A virtual private network, or VPN, is a layer of protection between your devices and the internet. It hides your IP address and your location. It also encrypts your data after leaving your device and traveling to whatever website you’re visiting.
Don’t even think about using a free VPN. At best, it will lack the necessary privacy features and slow you down. At worst, it’s hiding malware or tracking your information. My pick is ExpressVPN, the VPN I used before they became a sponsor of my national radio show.
Forget Google Translate - This language tool translates 100+ languages and protects your privacy
Polyglots don’t have this problem, but many of us yearn for the day that we can pop a device into our ears and instantly translate foreign languages. The Babel fish translator from Douglas Adams’ excellent The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy comes to mind.
Do this now before your Gmail account is deleted
Google’s Gmail is a behemoth when it comes to email providers. It has billions of users worldwide who log in daily to check their emails, set up meetings and track calendar entries. You also need a Google account when you set up an Android phone or download apps from the Play Store.
Use Hotmail or Outlook? You might have to start paying for it
If you still have an active Hotmail account, it is a testament to just how long you have been on the internet. The email service was launched in 1996 and was eventually acquired by Microsoft.
After several name changes and product relaunches, Microsoft retired the Hotmail brand and renamed it Outlook in 2012. Everybody on the system was automatically switched over to Microsoft Outlook back in 2013, and it has been impossible to create a Hotmail account since. Tap or click here to see what free email providers know about you.
Inbox full of junk? 5 simple ways to stop spam for good
Go to your email inbox and click on your spam folder. See those rows and rows of quarantined emails? Imagine them filling up your main inbox instead. Spam is a real issue for anyone with an email account.
While built-in spam filters for Gmail or other email clients can help temper the issue, they can’t do all of the heavy lifting. Spam emails can still slip through, not only wreaking havoc on your tidy inbox but also sometimes bringing phishing schemes or malware along with them. Tap or click here for a recent example.