Image Credits go to Flickr
Ever wondered why you are receiving a lot of spam in your email account? and why you often get redirected to a website selling some product? Well let me tell you, because your privacy has been compromised. Some one has some of your information which they are using to sell you things.
Once you have lost your privacy, you realize you have lost an extremely valuable thing.
[ Billy Graham ]
How often and unknowingly we surrender our privacy? Watch that video below and you will get an idea.
Image Credits go to Epipheo
Privacy of celebrities is always at risk because people like to know more and more about them. Very often there personal photos get leaked and wreak havoc in the mainstream media.
Celebrities that Lost their Privacy Online
Image Credits go to HollywoodReporter.com
Not just one or 5, the list is pretty long. Which clearly shows how reckless we all are when it comes to securing our privacy online:
Emma Watson
She played a significant role in one of the most famous movie series called Harry Potter. She got hacked twice in 2014 and 2017 respectively. Tweeting her thoughts about it she said "Even worse than seeing women's privacy violated on social media is reading the accompanying comments that show such a lack of empathy."
Amanda Seyfried
Not only an actress, she is also famous for singing. Her major works includes Red Riding Hood and Dear John. She was hacked in March 2017 followed by the leakage of her nude photos. Her lawyers took strict action and are still trying to remove her photos from the Internet.
Jennifer Lawrence
She is an actor and a film producer famous for her role in Silver Lining Playbook and The Hunger Games. Her nude photos were released in the wake of massive hack known as The Fappening in 2014.
Jessica Alba
An actor famous for Fantastic Four movie series was hacked and her nude photos were released while she was pregnant in 2010.
Mila Kunis
In 2011, her phone was hacked and her pictures with topless Justin Timberlake laying on the bed got released, triggering that 2 stars might have hooked up.
Rosario Dawson
In April 2017, her 11 pictures were released showing her completely nude, in the continuity of massive hack attacked called The Fappening.
Scarlett Johanssonss
An actress famous for her role in The Avengers, Captin America and The Prestige. Her email address was hacked and her nude photos were released on the Internet. Christopher Chaney was found connected to this activity and was sentenced to 10 years jail.
Other celebrities that lost their privacy in the past include Kate Hudson, Leslie Jones, Paris Hilton, Katie Cassidy, Kirsten Dunst, Sienna Miller, Analeigh Tipton, Julianne Hough, Jude Law, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Hugh Grant, Mick Jagger, Jessica Brown Findlay, Heather Morris, Eric Clapton, McKayla Maroney, Jill Scott etc.
I am not ambitious anymore. I just like my privacy. I wish I really wasn't talked about at all.
[ Barbra Streisand ]
An Overview of Yahoo! Data Breaches
Yahoo! Sends New Warning for 3rd Data Breach
What can Happen if Your Privacy gets Violated?
Image Credits go to Pixabay
You might be thinking that it's not a big deal if someone knows your age, gender or your country name. But it gets very dangerous eventually if you stay ignorant about your privacy online.
Blackmail
If someone gets access to your online storage drive. He can steal your personal photos and share them online. Just like it happened to various celebrities. Or he can even start blackmailing you with those pictures of yours.
Financial Loss
Let's suppose you enter your credit card details on some unauthorized website and now that information is in the hand of some with bad intentions. He can easily use it to do shopping online and make you go bankrupt.
Impersonation
If someone has access to your Facebook, maybe because you forgot your mobile at some place for some time. He can use it to post ANY thing with your name. Like any racial or adult content. Not only that, someone can easily use your identity for bad purposes. Like for fraud, scam, threat and hate speech etc.
Losing Data
In case your Google drive, apple cloud or Instagram get hacked, someone can easily delete all of your data. Also if any of your social account gets hacked, someone can easily delete it and end your online life. Unless you have two factor authentication enabled.
Why you Should Care about and Defend your Privacy?
You see how harmful the consequences might be for you? You must be wondering who is looking at you when you work online. Go ahead, watch the video below:
Image Credits go to War Affect
What benefits do someone get by gathering your information? Why do people try to demolish your privacy? Well there can be various reason for that. Let’s write them down one by one:
Image Credits go to Flickr
1) For Selling you Products
People are able to sell better if they know some things about you. Such as your gender, age, location, occupation etc. Hence, they gather such information about you and then start showing you advertisements accordingly.
2) To further Sell your Information
Some advertising companies and the companies that do surveys are more than happy to buy demographic information. Thus people often gather information about others with an intention of selling it.
3) Identity Theft
Information such as your name, home address, email address, office phone number, wife’s and mother’s name help bad folks a lot in stealing your identity. Using that information, some one can easily become you and indulge in bad activities.
4) To Steal From You
You daily upload your pictures and videos in your online storage drive. That data can be hacked or even might get used by the company providing that storage service. Used for the purpose of advertising, marketing and tons of other stuff without your permission.
5) Just for Fun
There are always some wanna be hackers and script kiddies trying to impress their friends. They don't carry any personal vendetta or any intention of stealing your money. They like deleting your data and changing your passwords; they do it just for fun.
I would like people to get a sense of who I am, yet I want to keep my privacy, too.
[ Rosamund Pike ]
Now there are various methods that black sheep use to demolish your privacy. Let’s discuss some of them.
Image Credits go to Pixabay
1) Phishing
People are sent to a website that looks quite similar to Facebook login page. They enter their login details which get sent to the evil fellow behind. Note: Not just Facebook, it can happen with PayPal, Gmail or any other website.
Image Credits go to Wikipedia
Solution
Before you enter your login details, make sure the login page is real and authorized. You can do that by taking a look at the URL of that website. Also, ensure that the link starts with https.
2) Cookie Stealing
You are shown a link with some malicious code behind. As soon as you click on it, your cookies data get sent to the bad person behind. Which allows him to login to your account without knowing your password.
Image Credits go to Flickr
Solution
Just never ever click on any link that looks suspicious. Just move your pointer to that link and read its URL first which will be shown at the bottom left side of your browser.
3) Keyloggers and SpyWare Tools
There are some spying tool which when installed tracks your every move and every key that you press. After after some specific time period which can be one or 5 minutes etc, it sends that data to the bad person behind.
Solution
Keep your Operating System updated, and never install software and applications from any unauthorized source.
We demand privacy, yet we glorify those that break into computers.
[ Bill McCollum ]
Methods that you can Use to Protect your Privacy?
Image Credits go to MaxPixel
Pick up the Right ISP
ISP means the company that is proving you the Internet Service. They know a lot about you. Like what websites you visit and how often you stay logged in to your Facebook etc. So you better choose any ISP that will respect your privacy and won't sell it away to any advertising or survey agencies.
What does your ISP know about You and why should you care?
Use TOR Browser
It will help you hide your internet activity from your Internet Service Provider(ISP). Also it will hide your IP address hence further increasing your anonymity. Your ISP will know that you are connected to TOR browser but it won't be able to know what you are browsing. But note that some websites might not work properly in TOR browser owing to keeping your activities hidden.
What are the Advantages of using TOR Browser?
Rely on VPNs
They serve the same purpose as TOR Browser. You can use any VPN service provider to hide your Internet Activity. But beware that all of your Internet activity will be then coming from your VPN provider. So make sure that your VPN provider guarantees privacy and won't be logging your activity. Long story short, using VPN is just like trusting VPN service provider over your your ISP.
8 Instances You weren't using VPN but you Should Have been
Install Privacy Badger Extension
This plugin is available for both Firefox and Chrome. It will prevent sites from tracking your browsing activity. Just install it in your favorite browser and you are good to go. If there is any website trying to track your activity, the plugin will let you know. You can download it from here.
I have always retained my privacy, but now I protect it even more.
[ Daniel Craig ]
What other measures can be taken to secure your privacy? Keep reading :
Image Credits go to WikiPedia
1) Never leave your personal email address on forums or on any other websites.
2) Always keep a dummy email address that you can use to sign up for free services and offers. So that your real email address does not get leaked to advertising companies.
3) Don’t make transactions on any unauthorized website.
4) Install AntiVirus on your computer and keep everything updated including your Operating System.
5) Always use two-factor authentication on gmail and on your other social networking accounts.
How to check your Privacy?
Image Credits go to Pixabay
So now you must be wondering how much Internet knows about you already. There are various ways to find out and also see how much of your information is being given up by your browser.
1) Google Yourself
Just go to Google and enter your full name there. If you think there are so many people with similar name, then simply combine it with your city name or maybe just write your email address there. Google will show you what it knows about you already.
2) Test your Browser
You can see if your browser is letting websites track your online activity or if there is any plugin installed that is stabbing you in the back. Simply go to this site and run the test. You will know how much protective your web browser is.
3) What Information you are Giving Away?
Whenever you visit any website, you give away some of your information. Such as your browser name, version and your IP Address etc. To know more about what you are telling the world each time you visit any website, just go here.
No matter if you just surf internet for fun or you have any online business running. You must pay attention to your privacy and security. Always keep a back up of your data offline. There is no room for laziness when it comes to data protection and security online.
Hope you liked reading the blog. For more information and learning, you can always checkout the links given below:
Congress just Killed your Internet Privacy
Privacy and Security in the Internet Age
Internet Privacy 2017: What You Need to Know?
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