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How to gain your privacy back on the internet


Germany takes privacy very serious. The abuse of personal information and trust by the Nazis with the Gestapo and the socialists with the Stasi organization showed Germans why information is a very valuable good. 
This is also one of the reasons innovative technologies take time to get implemented in Germany and the usage of credit cards are extremely low compared to countries like the USA. 
One of the most important things to consider in the 21th century is privacy. 

That is why I decided to write this quick post about how you can avoid leaving any footprints behind you with your daily internet consumption. 

Here are some important points:

1. Cookies

Cookies are one of the most important aspects you need to worry about when browsing through the internet. 
Cookies are essentially small data packs that include some information about the website you have visited. For example, settings for visuals or your login information. The problem with cookies is that they often get abused by advertisement companies to create a profile of you. The goal is to create an image of you so they can advertise thing that are most likely to interest you. You can test this by deleting your browser cookies and start surfing for some trips starting New York city or so. The next website you will visit will most likely show you an advertisement linked to the trip you have been searching for.
With the news around Cambridge Analytica and other data breaches, it is known that your profile can be used for political purposes in elections. 
What I always recommend people should do is clean your browser files at least once a month. You should try to use incognito mode when searching for personal thing like health questions and so on. The incognito mode will delete your browser files after you close the session. 
Google also has a profile menu where you can disable advertisement tracking. Look into your Google Settings and you will find some things to tune. 

2. Enable Anti-Ad-Tracker in your browser settings

It does what it says. Look into it and switch your browser if it does not have that function

3. Use DuckDuckGo as our default search engine

DuckDuckGo is a very powerful search engine that insists of the importance of your personal data. It has less precision then Googles Search engine but is good enough for daily usage, since it uses the Bing Engine by Microsoft. Look into DuckDuckGo and give it a try. 

4. Use more than one browser

I personally use different browsers for different needs. My online banking is done on a separate browser and not linked to my browser for media consumption. 

5. Avoid Google Search and any other Google Services

Google likes your personal data because they live of them. Don’t give them your information away for free. You can also use Ecosia to help the environment with every search you make through their search engine. Try it out.

My additional tip for anyone using the internet:

6. Do not use Ad-Blockers (mostly ethical)

The reason behind this controversial idea is not only about the unnecessary of adblockers, when you take care of the point mention above but also the financial disasters for small creators that adblockers can cause. Ads are annoying but they are there to let the creations make a living. I’m also sure that donating money to your favorite artists or YouTube Premium can be a better option to escape the advertisement hell. 

It’s a very short list but it is a very good start for beginners. Let’s keep our data secure!

Sharing is caring. This also goes for important posts like these. Just share this picture then ;)


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Location: Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland

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