Friday, January 27, 2023

6 Best Tips For Secure Internet Browsing

 

 

[UPDATED 2023-01-27]
[UPDATED 2021-12-10]
[originally posted 2020-09-25]


There are several steps to ensure that your online activity is safe. There are a number of things that you'll need to change to ensure online safety to the highest degree. Some steps are easier than others and some will take huge amounts of discipline and will power to be able to accomplish.


1. Use a computer, not a mobile device. This is the most important tip of the six listed.

    Besides emails, all internet activity should be limited to full computers. The biggest reason is that with computers like PC, Mac, or Linux etc, are more fully capable of blocking AI (Artificial Intelligence), Ads, and identity tracking types of software with Adblocking plugins, VPN software, overlay blockers and other tools. Another reason is that pretty much all mobile apps are designed to track your usage, and are submitted to software that uses AI to determine what you might like or might do next.

Do you want to see what I'm talking about? On any Android mobile device, go to the Google Play Store and pretty much every single app that exists will usually state that it contains ads. Even when it doesn't say "contains ads" that app will probably force you to pay for the App and spend money. The same could be said for the Apps in the Apple AppStore.

Just a couple of quick examples would be common apps like Facebook, or YouTube. The mobile versions of these apps were designed to try to subject you to advertisements based on your tracked internet activity. One time I was trying to watch a video clip on YouTube, and I tried tapping the back button, and then tapping the video again to try and skip ads but, YouTube just kept cycling the ads. This happened up to twelve times before I could watch my video. I could have waited for two ads to play fully through, but I prefer not to be brainwashed.
They do not prevent blocking of ads and purposely don't have mobile tools to block them. For years I've tried. The blocking tools are just not as available or not available at all on mobile platforms. So if you are using any kind of internet activity on a smartphone, tablet, or mobile device, the chances are very high that you will be subjected to advertisements while you use the app whether you like it or not.

However, browsing the full-site versions of Youtube, and Facebook on a full computer grants the ability to install security features on the internet browser. Only on a full computer can you block advertisements via Adblocking plugins, VPN software, overlay blockers and other tools.


2. Use Mozilla Firefox as your main internet browser on the computer.

    There are several other comparable browsers but Mozilla Firefox will allow you the security you need to block ads and tracking.


3. Install AdBlocker Ultimate Security Extension for the Firefox Browser.

- Download and install AdBlocker Ultimate - FireFox version

- then test it on this YouTube video that contains over 1,000 ads on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjiqIcIIvGc

   In previous posts I had listed numerous plugins but this one replaces them all and is an all-in-one solution.

The biggest challenge here is switching all internet activity over to a computer and not using our super convenient handheld devices. This is just one way to help minimize our online presence and keep our information safe.

Every time you sign up for a mobile app with your email and username, you are potentially setting yourself up for getting more ads and are sharing your personal information to each app and the AI that is behind them.


4. Use a VPN. 

    A Virtual Private Network is a service that hides your original IP address, and geo-location. There's a tonne out there that usually cost a monthly or annual subscription. Just search the internet for "personal use VPN". Some people will work for companies that can share their corporate VPN to remote workers so that when they use internet, the internet traffic gets funnelled back to the company network, which is usually backed by several more layers of security.


5. Use Qwant Lite instead of Google.

    Qwant Lite (https://lite.qwant.com) is an internet search engine that does not track usage. It is very important to choose the "Lite" version so that it does not hijack your homepage. Qwant Lite will not keep a history of your user account, it will not keep your history of searches, it will not track you. It will not leave any digital footprints that make it easier for AI to access your personal usage statistics or information much like how Google search does.

    - Qwant Lite - Firefox extension. 


6. Use NewPipe instead of YouTube on Android mobile devices.

    On an Android mobile device then NewPipe is the best ad-free alternative for YouTube content. It uses the YouTube API, which essentially means that it is actually YouTube, but without commercial advertisements and interference. If you have NewPipe, you won't need to pay for YouTube Premium to get rid of ads. NewPipe also has some awesome features like 'Background Play" which allows you to continue to listen to just the audio portion of videos, while you press the power button on your phone to turn off the screen and save battery life. It is absolutely amazing for music playlists from YouTube. Unfortunately Apple iPad and iPhone users are out of luck here.

    - NewPipe (note: You will need to enable the option "Install from Unknown Sources" in your mobile browser.)
    - Whenever Newpipe stops working, there is usually a version update that you will need to install to make it usable and start playing videos again. This can happen quite frequently.

No comments:

Post a Comment