Worldwide, people know that their electronic privacy is being violated. We are experiencing what is known as ‘feature creep’ – the incremental expansion of software use beyond the purposes for which it was originally intended.
The World Wide Web was designed to be a shared space where by sharing information, users could communicate. However, it has gone far beyond that. It is rooted in our fabric of society and has become an extension of our physical world.
But in the physical world, the rights we possess do not apply to our digital lives.
Privacy is a human right which is eligible and fundamental. In all the major international and regional resolutions on human rights, this right is articulated. For instance, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966, Article 17 and European Convention on Human Rights, Article 8.
Actually, in every corner of the world there are more than 130 states with legal provisions on privacy protection.
Although it is almost universally recognized that privacy right is of paramount importance, many of us remain stunned by its continued erosion. We claim that enough is enough at ProPrivacy. It’s time for us, the people, to take arms and fight for our right digital privacy. You’ve come to the right place if you want to join the fight.
Who am I defending against?
Four immediate threats to digital privacy are actually:
Your Internet service provider
Everything that you do online is routed through your ISP. This means that they have logs of all sites that you visit. Many people don’t think this a second way unless they do what is morally or ethically dubious.
Those who oppose ISP surveillance by pretending to have ‘nothing to hide’ look at confidentiality by the wrong end of the telescope. We should not all have to waive our rights to privacy just due to certain bad actors. And, for the fear it could be outside of the ‘normal behaviour’, we should not be afraid to be our true self online.
Your Government
It’s perhaps the biggest sleight of hand and unspoken outrage in a decade because our own government is directly threatening our digital privacy. Normally, citizens did not even take time to think, even after the Snowden disclosures which revealed details of a worldwide surveillance device that were previously considered impossible.
We know the facts now – every call, every message, every page we access is theoretically monitored by government agencies.
Business organizations
A handful of large corporations dominate the Internet. Every second there are 63,000 Google searches; almost 2.4 billion active Facebook users, about one-third of the world’s population. Such programs are now part of our social network because they fulfill a need, because they do so very well, and they are free to use. In return, they just ask for unimpeded access to your personal data.
It’s a deal that many of us are willing to do, as, face it, these services will undoubtedly enhance our digital life -and if we need to exchange with some of our right to privacy -so be it. Okay?
Hackers
Governments use sophisticated systems for mass monitoring. Business entities use cookies and the data that we voluntarily give in exchange for access to its services.
There are then deceptive actors who, in their approach to security, are much more transactional, and also intrusive. All of your private data is important for certain people, irrespective of your gender, pet name or credit card number.
Recommended tools for safeguarding your privacy
Here we have listed below our top five ‘must have’ digital privacy protection tools.
With these tools, you can protect your privacy from all risks, as you can significantly reduce your online footprint enhance your digital privacy.
1. A reliable VPN
A VPN should be at the top of the list of all devices that you should have in your arsenal of confidentiality. VPNs or private virtual networks have been developed to encrypt and mask the IP address of all your web traffic.
This prevents the monitoring of your online activities by your ISP and government agencies. It also ensures that blocks and other forms of censorship can be avoided.
You can easily ‘disguise’ your location and have access to services in your area that are not accessible. RitaVPN is one of the best VPNs that we recommend, it uses AES-256, which is the strongest type of commercially available encryption.
2. High safety-standard browsers
Browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Safari actively and vigorously collect user data. As they belong to Google, Microsoft and Apple, so actually it’s these three companies that are collecting data. These three companies have a market share of web browsers of nearly 84 percent. So you’re likely to read this article on one of the browsers. In fact, there are many other browsers out there for selecting, such as Firefox, Tor Browser and Waterfox.
3. A good ad blocker unblock websites
We all have the dreaded pop-up sometime, somewhere. Even fantastic sites, full of useful information, are used for occasional advertisements. Most of us can live with an ad or two, but you need a good ad blocker when business interests impede user experience.
Many pop-ups are absolutely wrong and are intended to guide you to malware-injecting sites.
The ad blocker prevents malicious and distracting advertisers from playing.
4. Strong anti-virus software
The resources above can be considered as proactive measures to protect your privacy. Another effective way to protect your privacy is to use anti-virus software. Regardless of how difficult you are to try, regardless of how hard you make to protect your personal data-viruses and malware are now inevitable.
Many of the internet malware is relatively benign. Nonetheless, malicious code will erase your privacy in ways that you never thought possible. The last line of defense between you and those who want to hurt you is often anti-virus technology.
