One of Search Encrypt’s biggest goals for 2018 is to establish privacy as a norm on the internet. Most major websites have taken steps to protect their users, but privacy has yet to be adopted across the web.

There is a bit of a stigma surrounding online privacy. Many people assume that the only people that are interested in online privacy are hackers and criminals. Privacy standards and regulations make the web more user friendly for the average user.

If the broader public seek to make the internet more private, the stigma will dissolve and privacy will become the standard. Currently though, privacy isn’t seen as a standard but as an afterthought or a bonus feature. As more devices become “smart”, the associated risks grow. Smart home devices keep us connected within our homes in the most “private” settings. This means that the information we share is more intimate and personal than ever before.

Easy Ways to Protect Your Digital Privacy

Consumer Reports says that it’s a sure bet that keeping your personal data private will be more of a challenge in 2018. It explains that it isn’t just criminal hackers that are accessing your information. It’s also marketers. They are working to track and monetize your data, and do so legally (for the most part).

Consumer Reports’ Five Ways to Protect Digital Privacy

Consumer Reports gives these five easy ways to protect your online privacy. These are simple steps that can pay off if hackers access your devices or information.

Update Your Devices

Tech companies use updates to patch vulnerabilities in their software. Some updates, however, may change your privacy settings or revert them to default. It’s important to double check to ensure that none of your settings have been adjusted to be “less private”. Consumer Reports suggests updating all devices, not just smartphones and laptops that update automatically.

Use Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication can protect you if your password is ever compromised. To log in, you’ll need a second factor, beyond your password. This could be a text message code, or your fingerprint, for example.

Freeze Your Credit

Freezing your credit will make sure that in the event of a hack, hackers won’t be able to get credit cards or loans approved in your name.

Install a Password Manager

Password managers not only store your passwords for you, they can also auto-generate complex, alpha-numeric passwords. Because passwords are the first line of defense for defending your privacy, they are a major contributor to your digital security.

Make Privacy a Priority

Protecting your privacy online involves actively choosing to protect yourself. You can’t simply become private and secure overnight. There are various steps you have to take to protect your information on the internet. You may have to delete some social media accounts, change your passwords, and install some new software. There are plenty of ways to keep yourself safe, and we think using a private search engine is a good place to start.

Search Encrypt Does Not Track Search History In Any User Identifiable Way

Search Encrypt is a privacy based search engine. As such, we have a responsibility to protect our users from tracking on the internet. Many search engines track user information and use it for ad targeting and various other purposes. While most search engines do perform some encryption on your data, we don’t track our users’ search history in any user identifiable way.