Anonymous Surfing Can Protect Your Privacy

Anytime you surf the Internet or chat with your friends, or even when you try to do your shopping and banking online, your actions will be logged on your browser and personal surfing history. That means that as your browse around, website owners will be able to monitor and track your surfing habits, which can lead to spam and other, more serious, problems.

The fact is that as you browse the Internet, your activities will be tracked in different ways. Others, like marketers or government entities will be able to see your actions and act on them accordingly. Is this something you feel comfortable about? Are you totally sure that this information will only be used in positive ways?

One solution that many people are turning to these days is anonymous surfing programs. These applications will protect you from sites that collect this information, which make them a great way to protect your privacy.

There two basic types of anonymous surfing programs, one is web-based and the other is downloaded right onto your computer. The better option is probably the software that you install on your own machine because web-based solutions don't provide any SSL or SSH encryption to protect your personal information that may be required on a site. An application on your own computer, however, will be able to do this.

A web-based anonymity is a good option for more casual Internet users. It is free and will cover you if you only use it a couple hours a day, but if you need something a little more serious, the online option isn't going to work for you.

For the more serious users, a program that you install is going to be a better choice. This will allow you to do your anonymous surfing with full privacy and security. The simplest way to do this is to buy a program and install it on your computer yourself, and then you won't have to rely on web-based solutions.

There are a lot of valid concerns when it comes to doing business on the Internet. If you're looking for a way to protect yourself and your personal information safe, anonymous surfing is the way to go. If you get a good program installed on the system, you'll be able to protect yourself from unethical marketers and the threat of identity theft.

Anonymous surfing solutions that you install on your computer will be more useful, in the long run, than the free website services. There are a lot of threats on the Internet, and you probably already have protection against viruses and spyware, so why not go the extra step and protect yourself even more from people who would use your information to get gain?

A VPN (or Virtual Private Network) can be a great way to get a private connection. Mitch Stenson is an experienced copywriter who can help you minimize risk by using anonymous surfing with a VPN. Looking for more? Find more articles for this and other related topics by Mr. Stenson on the internet.

Issues of Revealing Personal Information in Social Network Websites

Social network is an advanced form of communication binding people having specific values, ideas, friendship, visions, and so on. This network revolves around categories such as friendship, professional links and love relations.

The relations of social network are built based on the user`s everyday life, and gets expanded with every new contact. Entering a social network involves building a personal profile by giving email address, personal interests, work experiences, hobbies, and so on. This is the point which the contact network widens and helps in building thematic virtual communities. Some of the online social networks are Friendster, LinkedIn, Orkut, Kibop, MySpace and Facebook.

Speaking about the security of social networks, there is a threat of divulging the personal information and the theft of identity is a matter of growing concern. Personal information stored in the social network sites includes intimate details such as religion, relationship, personal hobbies, views on politics and many others. The security issue is that the combination of details makes it compelling and interesting, besides being potentially dangerous. It is easy to locate theoretically the place you live and the hour you are available, and this may lead to some personal problems.

Excessive blabbing can lead to unwanted gossip and in this process there are chances of revealing more than essential information. Hence, be safe by paying attention to the revealed information, and being discreet by taking time to understand the privacy policy published in these sites is a must. It should be a rule of thumb not trust anybody immediately and also not to share personal information. Even, if various social networks come together because of security issues, considering them individually is a must for specific security weaknesses.

Privacy is the main concern and hence adhering to some simple advice such as thinking twice before sharing your password, and after typing the email address and password to login, and ensuring that the `Remember me box` is turned off, is a must. Similarly, log out after using the social network sites are simple recommendations assisting to keep the data safe. Above all, avoid putting sensitive information on social networks by restricting the kind of information to be shared. If you are referring to hobbies, do not enhance it with work information, as privacy settings should be customized and even then if something undesired crops up, block the access and report violations.

Hiding specific areas of the profile such as contact information from certain people is also one of the best ways of maintaining security. However, to employ this technique, make sure that only few preferred contacts will have access to the concealed information. This can be done by choosing the privacy settings that allows you to decide viewing and also in blocking applications, if undesired. Preventing network users of knowing about your presence on the site can also be done, so that you are not interrupted every time you log in.

Facebook and MySpace are two of largest the social networking sites and are hence a main target for hackers, spammers and online predators. As a result, it is always recommended to be conservative and controlled in exposing your personal information.

Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil