Guarding My Virtual Privacy: You Should Too

Maintaining your online privacy Should be a priority in the digital world we find ourselves in today. For me, it has become more like a battle in a time when even the AIs online seem to know more about me than my closest friend.

It will be safe to say that I am on a quest to protect my digital secrets from prying eyes, including those of hackers, advertising, and that creepy neighbor who seems to be always around my Wi-Fi network. Yes, I put that into consideration as well. Let's talk about passwords first.

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People use passwords like "qwerty" and "password123". Even though these are good passwords, I still think they can be guessed. What is my plan? I create random combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols that appear as though a cat walked over my keyboard, lol.

I use a password manager to create these passwords and it is awesome as these passwords I create not only confuse prospective hackers, they confuse me too. It's just like employing a bouncer who always asks you to solve a puzzle before gaining entrance rather than just standing at the entrance😅.

Do you know about digital camouflage? Let’s talk about it. People share everything on social media these days, from their breakfast preferences to their worst problems. not me, though 😂. I stay away from the oversharing trap by sharing just enough to be human, yes! Read that again. My posts are usually things like lines from books I read, pictures of sunsets and sometimes, weird status updates like "Thinking about things". This confuses the digital marketers and keeps the algorithms of social media apps guessing and I love it!

Soirce

Another aspect of the internet I love to maintain privacy is my emails. That's indeed a different ball game. I have different emails for different aspects of my life. lol, I know that sounds strange, but I do. I have one for shopping, social media, work, and that newsletter I signed up for three years ago, hopping to get 10% off socks 😅. This way, even if one email is compromised, the others are safe.

I see it as having different hideouts in the online space. I also use the power of browser extensions to get rid of those annoying web trackers. Reliable ones include ad blockers, cookie burners, and VPNs. In fact, there was a time when my IP address was hidden via a VPN, giving the impression that I was browsing from a far-off island 😅.

Oh! I’ve not talked about internet shopping . When shopping, I rest assured that my payment card information is secured. When I shop online, I use virtual credit cards. Think of them as digital chameleons that disappear after every transaction. It’s just like using real Monopoly money for payment. Then I have my ultimate ninja move 😂. I call it digital detox where I log out of the virtual world from time to time. I got out totally, no social media, no emails, not even internet gaming.

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When I’m off, I go to serene places to meditate or binge-watch TV programmes without writing about them. This keeps me sane and throws data collectors into confusion.

Finally, let’s discuss the last possibility; the smart home technology. Even though I don’t have these technologies yet I’ll talk about how I would use them if I had them. First, I would use uncertainty when I welcome my astute assistance. I'd give cryptic instructions that will guarantee that they collect meaningless data even while they are listening in.

So, yes! I protect my internet anonymity with these steps. Would you do the same? Tell me one thing you do to protect your privacy in the comments

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