Most people experience our technology is spying on us . After all , how many time have you seek for something on-line , only to of a sudden find advertising popping up on your screen offering that exact same point or divine service ? That might not seem too ominous ; maybe you even apprize the ads . But privacy experts warn that tech companies — namely Google , Microsoft and Apple — are quietly compiling an alarming amount of sore data about us , including information about our finance , medical history , political leanings , religion and more .
All of this data may be leaked , hacked , shared with government intelligence agency agencies , subpoena and used to influence our opinion , among other concerns . That ’s probably why a2019 Pew Research Center surveyshowed that 81 percent of multitude in the U.S. say the potential jeopardy from data collection overbalance the welfare . In addition , more than 60 percent of responder feel it ’s not possible to go through daily life without the administration or companies pull together data about them . Luckily , there are meter we can take to protect our personal info . And one of the prosperous ways is to lead off using aweb browser app or search locomotive dedicated to privateness .
A web web web browser is a piece of software package that lets you get to the cyberspace — to visit or lumber in to websites , view multimedia , etc . Chrome was the mostpopular web web browser in 2021 , with 64 percentage of the global marketplace share , follow by Safari ( 19 pct ) , Firefox ( 3.3 percent ) and Edge ( 3.2 per centum ) . All browser app , in turn , expend a search locomotive engine like Google , Bing or Yahoo ! to gestate out their web searches .
When you get a new laptop , tablet or phone , you do n’t usually have to choose a web browser app , as many devices come with one preinstalled . orchard apple tree products are loaded with Safari , for example , while most Android devices come with Chrome . Yet while these two omnipresent browsers do pop the question some privateness features , including the power to explore under a privacy mode ( like Chrome ’s Incognito ) , those features do n’t do much , say Robert Beens , co - founder and CEO ofStartpage , a private hunt engine offering free , anon. browsing . ( Full revelation : HowStuffWorks ’ parent ship’s company System1 is an investor in Startpage . )
Searching under " incognito " or " privacy " modality , for example , mainly enshroud your web search from other people who might utilize your gadget . The browser app itself still sees and records all of the identifying particular of your searches . " privateness modality are heavy for marketing , " say Beens , " but they do n’t do much for our privacy . That ’s the reality . "
Why Private Browsers and Search Engines Are Better
One option , then , is to apply a new browser app dedicated to privacy . There are many out there , and switching to another one takes less than a minute . Mozilla ’s Firefoxdoesn’t think your history or logins , and it offer up ad - blockers , an invisible shield that jam certain trackers and a web browser app extension that make it more difficult for Facebook to track your online body process . A few other well - regarded private browsers are Vivaldi , Tor , Brave , DuckDuckGo and Waterfox ( Full revealing : The Waterfox browser app is owned by HowStuffWorks ' parent company , System1 ) .
Beens enounce his society , Startpage , offer the most secure net experience uncommitted , as it delivers Google search result in privacy via a unique family relationship with Google . Here ’s how it wreak : If you deport a web search on Startpage , it strips off all of your identify information , then spend on an anon. query to Google . Google performs the search , then regress its answer to Startpage and you . During the process , Startpage does n’t save or betray your lookup history or forget cookie . It also prevents third party from place you .
In addition to protect your privateness , private hunt engines like Startpage ensure you receive unbiassed search results , suppose Beens , a conception vital to see . Today , the more a hunting engine know about you , the more it will endeavor to skew all search results toward your preferences . Beens says if he introduce " Egypt " into Google ’s search bar , for good example , he might receive more information on diving land site in the Red Sea than someone else , because Google know he ’s interested in diving event . But someone who ’s interested in politics might incur more word link on political issues surrounding Egypt .
" hunting results are not always dead on target search results , " he says , " because search locomotive engine often put you in a bubble . To snap off out of that bubble , you have to use a search engine that gives you absolutely unbiased lookup results .
Of course , there are boundary to what any private web browser app or individual search locomotive engine can do . None of them can protect you on any websites where you lumber in , for good example , because once you do that , you ’ve confirmed your personal entropy . Some secret web browser may be slower , due to their enhance privacy features . And secret lookup engine do their own search — unlike Startpage ’s use of Google and its monster hunting power — may not be as just at finding information for very niched searches . In the end , says Beens , it comes down to awareness .
For internet privacy today is not just about protecting our passwords and avoiding third - party ads ; it ’s becoming aware about being manipulated . Technical companies strain to keep you on their websites and in their ecosystem as long as they can , Beens says , and they attain this in part by putting you in your own replication chamber , where you see and discover more and more of the same . This can reinforce your thoughts and impressions , and lead to the polarisation among masses that we ’re seeing in the U.S. and around the orb .
" Internet privateness is right smart more important than closing your curtains at night , " he say .
