If you are conscious about online privacy you would like to browse the Internet without the feeling of being watched but the unfortunate fact is that the Internet is not a safe place and cybercriminals can exploit zero-day vulnerabilities to achieve their target that would have been impossible otherwise. This may include infecting victim’s PC with malware, spy on their browsing activity or steal personal data.
Currently, Google’s Chrome browser has billions of users worldwide which makes it a perfect and lucrative target for cybercriminals but there are some effective security extensions for Chrome aimed at helping users protect their data from third parties. That being said, it’s important to understand cybercriminals are looking for soft targets and there are several ways to make your information a hard target, especially for Chrome users.
See: Gmail wittingly storing your online purchase data for years
Use a Search Engine that Doesn’t Track
One good thing about Chrome is that you can Google search by simply typing your query in its address bar. The problem is, whenever you search something on Google, the search engine tracks your browsing history and shares it with third-parties for targeted advertising. However, DuckDuckGo and Startpage are two alternatives for Google as both have a proven track record of not tracking online searchers of their users.
Don’t Allow Location to Be Turned On
There are tons of advantages to having your location on and it’s very tempting to keep it on so you can find related information quickly and accurately. The problem is, when your location is on, Google knows where are you and where have you been.
Remember, Google was once caught collecting Android location data even if location service was turned off by users. To avoid such situation keep your device’s location off however the con of it that in case your device is lost you won’t be able to track it with its location being off.
Use the Google Privacy Checkup
Google offers a tool called Privacy Checkup you can use to review and adjust privacy settings as you see it fit. You can evaluate and modify what data the search engine company uses to personalize your online experience, as well as fine-tune what information you share with the world wide web, be it, friends or total strangers, You can access privacy checkup here.
Clear All of Your Cookies Automatically
Cookies are one of the main ways that sites can track you. There are lots of benefits to having cookies and keeping them stored on your computer, but there are also downsides as well. For example, a hacker can use cookies to slide into your system and wreak havoc upon your network.
See: Mozilla’s ‘Track This’ lets you choose fake identity to deceive advertisers
Furthermore, cookies take up valuable space on your browser, affect how the RAM operates along with other processes that make pages load a bit slower. There is a setting in Chrome that allows you to clear your cookies with ease by setting cookies to automatically delete after you close a session on Chrome. This setting is highly recommended so that you can avoid having cookies on your computer and letting them affect performance and privacy.
See: Is Your VPN Provider in a 14 Eyes Country? (What is 14 Eyes?)
Use the “Do Not Track” Feature
This is the last and probably the most tricky of all the different ways that you can protect your privacy on Chrome. The problem with enabling the Do Not Track feature is that you will inevitably come across companies who will not let you access their websites. However, there is a way around this, you could keep the tracking enabled while using a VPN that doesn’t track movements and masks your IP address but make sure your VPN is not among any of these 14 eye countries.
Once you are done with browsing, you can have the browser clear itself before turning off the VPN. This is one of the more creative ways to avoid problems while using the Do Not Track feature.
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