Last week, we looked at the current state of Internet tracking, where companies spy on your physical location and record your activities, building profiles on you that can be used for both good and bad purposes.
Coincidentally, since then, in a suit brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the State of New Jersey, TV manufacturer Vizio was fined $2.2 million for tracking and spying on its customers and selling their information to data brokers and advertisers. In turn, those parties then resell that information to whoever can pay, including Internet crooks.
Is the tide turning against Internet spying, and in favor of consumers who wish to protect themselves online? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, here is a list of effective steps you can take to guard your life by blocking Internet tracking. These steps apply to desktop and laptop computers, as well as smart phones and tablets. Newspaper space forbids an in-depth explanation of each one; if you get stuck, send me an email and I’ll try to help.
1. Stop using the same email address for everything. Setup different addresses for personal use, commerce (eBay, Amazon, banking, etc.), etc. Stop using your real name as part of your email address. Use pseudonyms, instead.
2. Stop “signing in” for no reason. With Windows 10, use a Local Account on your computer, rather than signing in with a Microsoft account. MacBooks, iMacs and iPhones, do not sign in to your Apple account unless you are actively using iTunes, iCloud, etc.
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3. Sign out of accounts and/or websites when you are done. Do not stay perpetually signed in to Facebook, Twitter or your financial accounts.
4. Use a secure browser and browser settings. Stop using Google Chrome or Apple Safari. Use Mozilla Firefox, instead. The reason? It is easier for most users to securely configure Firefox than any of the other browsers.
5. Set Firefox to dump cookies, browsing history, temporary files, etc., as follows: If needed, turn on the Menu Bar by right-clicking a blank space at the top of the browser. When you get the menu that includes “Menu Bar,” check it. Next: select Tools/Options/Privacy and check “Tell websites I do not want to be tracked.” Pick “Firefox will use Custom Settings.” Uncheck “Always Use Private Browsing.” Select “Don’t remember download or search/form history.” Accept cookies from sites; third-party cookies: keep until I close Firefox. Select Clear history when Firefox closes; “Settings,” check everything. Security tab: do not remember passwords.
6. Stop clicking on ads, fake news stories and unknown links.
7. Use a tracking blocker like Ghostery (Firefox add-on at ghostery.com). iPhone/iPad users can get the complete Ghostery Privacy Browser free in the iTunes store.
8. Turn your computer off at the end of the day.
9. Secure your phone. Use Firefox or Ghostery browser on your iPhone and Android phone. Turn off GPS. Disable Location services. Deny apps that read notifications. Use “app verification,” if available. Update your phones security policy.
10. Items specific to iPhones/iPads: Update iOS. Autowipe iPhone content (Settings, TouchID and passcode, Erase Data). Remove unused apps. Remove App permissions: Settings, Privacy. Disable Siri on the Lock Screen: Settings, TouchID, disable “Allow Access when locked.” Turn off the “Today” feature on the lock screen: Settings, TouchID, Lockscreen Access. Set a stronger passcode: Settings, TouchID, Turn Passcode On, Passcode Options. Use Custom, longer codes. Stop iPhone tracking: Settings, Privacy, Location Services, System Services, Frequent Locations. Turn Off. Click Clear History. Stop apps from using your private data: Settings, Privacy, select each app and swipe access on or off. Stop storing messages on your device: Settings, Messages, Keep Messages, select shorter time to retain your messages. Check the Audio Messages and Video Messages as well.
11. Items specific to Android phones/tablets: Lock down apps, photos and videos with a security utility like App Lock. Update Android and your apps. Update apps using auto-update over Wi-Fi. See Google Play, Settings, General, Auto-update apps. Update Android: Settings, About Phone, System updates. Make sure your device can’t download apps from unknown sources. Check Settings, Security, Device Administration, Unknown sources. Don’t install apps with permissions they don’t need. Alternately, change installed existing app permissions by going to Settings, Apps, App Permissions, or by using something like App Ops, by Nowsky (Google Play Store). Install an antivirus app like Avast, AVG or Lookout.
12. Change your Google Activity settings (both Android and iPhones, if you have a Google email account). Visit https://myactivity.google.com, sign in to your Google account. Delete your history. Turn off tracking by clicking Activity Controls, turn off (”Pause”) everything. Scroll to the bottom and click Ads. Turn off “Ads based on your interests.” Click “Control Signed-out Ads” also, and turn off everything.