Your ISP can see all your internet activity, which mostly includes all your Google searches, the websites you regularly visit or visited just once, the different media files and office documents you upload/download, the time when you last connected to the internet, your info on various social media accounts, all your passwords, and both personal/professional emails. If you use a different provider for your professional email, then the other service provider will also be able to view your data online. Which leads us to – why track user data?
Reasons for Tracking Your Data
This question often pops up in the mind of an internet user: why does the service provider need to track the private data of its consumer base? There are several reasons behind this. One is to ensure that any one of their users is not involved in any kind of illegal or criminal activity, which may harm the community in general.
Secondly, to improve and enhance the internet experience of the user. A particular requirement of the government for Internet providers today is to collect and store user data along with search info for a certain period. On the downside, ISPs have the opportunity to sell customer data to the highest bidder, as digital marketers require this comprehensive user data for their purposes. Even though it’s illegal for ISPs to sell your data to any third party for a profit, most ISPs are not involved in any kind of unlawful conduct.
How to Prevent Your ISP from Tracking Your Online Activity
There are several ways to cloak all digital activity online. As technology has advanced, expanding globally, new creative methods for tracing daily user data are now utilized that allow ISPs from tracking a user’s digital movement and their online activity:
Use Private Mode to Stop Tracking of Cookies
Users need to take many steps to protect their virtual privacy. Cleaning up your browsing history, adjusting settings so that website can no longer track your cookies are just some tips that you probably follow daily. Most web browsers come with private browsing options as well. Although these private browsing options may not save cookies/temporary files nor save the browsing history of the user on the laptop this is not enough to stop the ISP from tracking your online movement.
Furthermore, such private browsing settings come with a ‘Do Not Track’ option as well, which instantly informs the website that the user does not want their cookies to be tracked nor do they want similar technology utilizing private info for marketing purposes. Although this is one method, that tells the user that not all their data is viewed, this is a false claim as your ISP can still view your data.
Utilizing Proxies & VPNs for Optimum Security
Another tool used by businesses to keep track of their remote employees is by using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). These security tools also provide an encrypted connection for maximum safety of your employees’ digital activity. While your browsing activity and all internet history may not be accessible by the local ISP but it is still viewed by the employer. This is also because corporate organizations now provide VPN access for work purposes to their employees for encrypted internet service, which can only be viewed by the company.
Similar to VPNs are proxies, except that they are private VPNs, which provide you with fast and secure service, especially if you are connected to a public internet connection. A word of caution: always check before using either of these because if they are keeping logs of their own, then the purpose of using these private connections in the first place is lost.
Utilizing the Onion Router (Tor) For Optimal Help
The Onion Router is a non-profit, which was built to improve online security tools while protecting confidential governmental communications and documentation. For instance, you may want to speak/write against the policy imposed by the government, but that cannot be done, as the censorship laws are very tight. This is a governmental project, built for numerous governmental purposes, that’s why using Tor instead of an ordinary web browser has many benefits. The simple reason is the government or anybody else will not be able to track your online activity.
Instead of sending info to your server, it will send that information to multiple servers around the world to mask your internet activity. Although plenty of impressive security tools is found such as I2P or Freenet Tor remains to be a favorite among users, who know how to use this tool properly. If you want to encrypt your internet experience completely, this kind of anonymous browsing tool is perfect. What’s more is that while this tech may safeguard your online security quite well, if the wrong people pick it up, then you may have trouble in society as illegal activities may increase without a trace.
Wrapping Up
There is a growing worry among internet users, who are frantic about their online data being in the hands of their internet service provider, who have all their eyes and ears on users’ digital activity? Personal security, whether physical or digital is no joke and should not be treated lightly. Although marketers target us all day with their advertisements, the government has track of all spheres of information related to us. It’s not something simple, especially if you live in a country with a troubled governmental institution(s) that oppresses its people, where the pettiest of issues can be risky. Even the simplest of activities on the internet could prove to be dangerous. Hence, in the era we live in, simply trusting anyone could be naiveté at its best. To enhance your online experience, try a different service provider. Simply visit BuyTVInternetPhone and invest in a service that’s speedy, reliable, and highly accessible in the area.
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