Eff Online Safety Suggestions Essays Examples

The EFF technology director Stanton McCandlish (2002) suggested several ways of protecting one online. McCandlish begins by warning internet users to be careful not to inadvertently reveal personal information. It is upon the internet user to make sure that the browsers they use are properly configured and safe such that one does not reveal a lot of information to strangers. One must never share personal information with someone met on the internet. McCandlish further advices that one needs to turn on cookie notices in the web browsers or use infomediaries. Such is because some companies may share cookies that risk the users’ privacy. For example advertising companies share cookies that track their advertisement. In addition, when sending emails to unknown parties, one is advised to use clean emails. By clean emails, McCandlish means that one needs to use “side” email i.e. not the main emails. One can use pseudo names for the “side” email.
McCandlish notes that it is important for one to take note of possible tacking from work. Due to this, one has to avoid highly personalized emails, and can also ensure that sensitive files are kept in personal computers at home. Moreover, one has to be aware of companies that offer prizes for exchange of personal information. One has to mind security all the times, and ought not to reply to spam emails for whatever reason. Using encryption is advisable. There are numerous software and other service providers that encrypt data protecting it from unauthorized access. Above all these, one can install ad blockers and turn the filter preferences to add easy privacy. Such protects the one from advert tracking. On top of that, one can turn off referrers since they tent to give a lot of personal information with every HTTP request. One can also install HTTPS Everywhere to minimize the use of HTTPS and protect one from been snooped by third parties. One needs to keep private data private, and update antivirus and other protective soft wares regularly.

Work cited

Stanton McCandlish. EFF's Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy.2002. Accessed from https://www.eff.org/wp/effs-top-12-ways-protect-your-online-privacy on February 5, 2015