How to Protect Online Privacy?如何保護網絡隱私？

尼基·霍塞克 譯/劉安琪 Nicky Hoseck

It might be tempting to forget the warnings that told us， “Data is the new gold”， but with reporters still emphasizing that he who owns data owns the future， maintaining some level of online privacy is a must.

In this article， were going to give you some ideas and tips about how to best protect your privacy online and retain control over your financial and personal information.

1. Use a password manager to protect yourself

The average person has 70—80 passwords to remember. As a result， many of us end up reusing the same old passwords or relying on passwords that are easy to remember， but equally easy to guess.

A password manager gives you a safe place to store your passwords while monitoring their weakness and repetition and helping you create new， strong passwords. Many password managers are free， up to a point at least.

2. Use a VPN1 to stay safe on public networks

Public Wi-Fi networks are the virtual equivalent of the dodgy neighborhood， where cybercriminals， hackers， and other nefarious characters are loitering on every corner. Using a public Wi-Fi connection exposes you to a variety of cyber threats.

An unsecured public Wi-Fi connection could redirect you to a malicious website. Even if you only visit secure HTTPS2 sites， some of the apps on your cell phone could be connecting to HTTP3 sites without you knowing it. If youve not installed the latest security patches for your operating system， your device could come under attack.

3. Use a private browsing mode when surfing the web

While a private browsing session4 doesnt offer the same level of security as a VPN， it does mean your browsing history wont be saved and any cookies generated during the session， deleted.

Private browsing mode is “largely ineffective at blocking third-party monitoring， meaning that your internet service provider can still track your online activities”. It will， however， stop anyone else using that device from finding out where youve been or accessing sensitive information， like your online banking password.

Its a step in the right direction but， if you want to protect your privacy online more effectively， you could try using an anonymous browser， or let a VPN shroud you in a cloak of anonymity.

4. Stop adware by using an ad blocker

Adware was sent to try us. It may be designed to gather information so we only see relevant adverts in our social media feeds， but its gone way beyond the call of duty5.

Some adware is so persistent， it will follow you through cyberspace， tracking your digital footprint and gathering up crumbs of information about your location. Once its finished， it will? ? ? ?inundate6 you with adverts that interrupt your browsing experience， devour your mobile data， and eat away at7 your devices battery life.

Standalone adblockers like AdBlock Plus and uBlock Origin， are available as free browser extensions and some antivirus software and VPN providers bundle8 ad blockers into their suite of cybersecurity tools.

5. Update your privacy settings on social media account

You may have， inadvertently， given all sorts of apps and websites permission to interact with Facebook using your profile. You can， if you have a morning to spare， use Facebooks Off-Facebook Activity tool to track them down and close them down but， I warn you， its not easy but it is worth it.

Its advisable to tweak a few settings to improve your online privacy. These include：

· Not using location data when posting

· Preventing users from tagging you in photos

· Hiding your email address and phone number

· Turning off personalization and data

· Not giving Twitter permission to access your address book

6. Turn off your location

Turning your location on your cellphone is understandable if youre looking for a specific address or want to find the nearest coffee shop. Once youve found what you were looking for， however， you should turn your location off again.

Leaving it open could mean giving unknown companies and peeping Toms9 more insights into your life that youd give your best friend.

Turn your location off or use a VPN to hide it behind a fake IP address. That youll both protect your privacy online and opt out of “the greatest trick technology companies ever played”—“persuading society to surveil itself”.

7. Limit your applications access to personal data and settings

Before you agree to an app collecting data or monitoring your whereabouts， think about whether it really needs that information to operate—and whether you want to share it.

Some apps are rather more cagey. The Washington Post ran an article pointing out that， on the average iPhone， apps are using trackers to collect and share around 1.5GB of data over 30 days.

While you can stop them to some degree by limiting their access， a more effective solution is to install a different type of app altogether—one that will stop trackers instead of activating them.

8. Encrypt your emails

Almost all popular messaging apps use encryption， and yet few of us consider seeking out an encrypted email service. Instead， we seem content to deal with the spam and the phishing attacks， relying on our wits and good sense to filter out the dangers.

Depending on who your email service provider is， you should be able to encrypt emails yourself. To achieve this， however， both you and your recipient need to enable S/MIME10 email encryption settings， so its not viable in every instance.

Alternatively， you could use a third-party encryption tool to do the job for you.

9. Avoid clicking on links from unknown sources

Phishing is a virulent strain of social engineering11 and phishing emails usually try to entice the recipient into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. The best way to stop them is by， quite simply， not clicking on or opening anything that is not from a reliable source.

You should never reveal personal information via email unless you are absolutely sure who you are sending it to.

While some antivirus packages will guard against phishing attacks， the most reliable way of protecting your online privacy in this instance12， is by constant vigilance and awareness.

10. Manage your smart devices

Having your fridge chatting away to your home thermostat is great if you want to control temperatures， but terrible if you want to control your data flow. If you put all your devices onto the same network， its the virtual equivalent of putting all your eggs into one basket.

As the FBI warned， “your fridge and your laptop should not be on the same network”. That way， if someone hacks your fridge， they wont immediately gain access to your laptop as well. You could also add a VPN to your router and encrypt all the data thats flowing through your IoT devices.

人們也許很容易忘記“數據是新的黃金”這樣的忠告，但既然記者仍在強調誰擁有數據誰就擁有未來，那么在網絡上保持一定程度的隱私還是有必要的。

如何最妥善地保護網絡隱私，以及如何牢牢掌握自己的財務和個人信息，本文將為你提供一些想法和建議。

1. 使用密碼管理器保護自己

一般人需要記住的密碼有七八十個。因此，很多人到頭來都會重復使用相同的舊密碼，或是依賴那些容易記住的密碼，但后者也同樣容易被人猜出來。

密碼管理器提供了一個安全的空間來存儲密碼，同時還可以監控其安全性和重復性，并幫助創建安全性強的新密碼。許多密碼管理器都是免費的，至少一定程度上是免費的。

2. 在公共網絡使用虛擬專用網絡（VPN）保障安全

公共無線（Wi-Fi）網絡實際上相當于一個危險的小區，每個角落時時都游蕩著網絡犯罪分子、黑客和其他不道德的人。連上公共Wi-Fi會面臨各種各樣的網絡威脅。

連接未經加密的公共Wi-Fi有可能跳轉到惡意網站。即使只訪問安全的超文本傳輸安全協議網站，手機中的一些應用程序也可能會在不知不覺中連接到超文本傳送協議網站。如果尚未給操作系統安裝最新的安全補丁，你的設備就可能會遭受攻擊。

3. 上網時使用無痕瀏覽模式

無痕瀏覽提供不了與VPN相同的安全程度，但它確實意味著瀏覽歷史不會保存下來，并且瀏覽期間生成的所有緩存文件都會被刪除。

無痕瀏覽模式“在攔截第三方監控方面很大程度上是無效的，這意味著互聯網服務提供商仍然可以跟蹤你的在線活動”。但是，無痕瀏覽模式可以阻止使用該設備的其他人發現你訪問過什么網站或者找到你的網上銀行密碼等敏感信息。

采用無痕瀏覽模式是正確的，但如果想要更加有效地保護網絡隱私，可以嘗試使用匿名瀏覽器，或是用VPN為你披上一件匿名的外衣。

4. 使用廣告攔截器攔截廣告軟件

廣告軟件是被派來試探我們的。它可能用于收集信息，目的是讓我們在社交媒體信息流中只看到與我們有關的廣告，但廣告軟件所做的已超出了它們的職責范圍。

一些廣告軟件非常頑固，它會在網絡空間跟蹤你，追蹤數字足跡，收集點點滴滴的位置信息。這些軟件一旦完成信息收集，就會將你淹沒在廣告之中，打斷瀏覽體驗，吞噬移動數據，還會消耗設備電池壽命。

AdBlock Plus和uBlock Origin這樣的獨立廣告攔截器都是瀏覽器擴展程序，可以免費獲取。還有一些殺毒軟件和VPN提供商在他們的網絡安全工具套裝中免費贈送幾款廣告攔截器。

5. 更新社交媒體賬戶的隱私設置

也許不經意間，你已向各種應用程序和網站授權，準許使用你的個人資料與臉書交互。如果能抽出一個上午的時間，你可以使用臉書的“站外活動”工具來追蹤這些授權并關閉它們。我得提醒你，這么做并不容易，但值得一做。

最好調整一些設置來增強對網絡隱私的保護。這些設置包括：

·發帖時不使用位置數據

·禁止用戶在照片中標記你

·隱藏電子郵件地址和電話號碼

·關閉個性化設置及其數據

·不授權推特訪問通訊錄

6. 關閉定位功能

如果你在尋找一個特定的地址或是想要找到最近的咖啡館，那么打開手機定位是合理的。然而，一旦找到了要找的地點，就應該重新關閉定位。

如果一直開著定位，陌生公司和偷窺狂就有機會更多地窺探你的生活，而這些內容你只會和好朋友分享。

關閉定位功能，或使用VPN將定位隱藏在假的IP地址背后。這樣既能保護網絡隱私，又能選擇退出“各個科技公司耍過的最大的把戲”，那就是“說服社會自我監視”。

7. 限制應用程序訪問個人數據和設置

在同意某個應用程序采集數據或監控行蹤之前，想一想它是否真的需要這些信息才能運行，以及你是否愿意與它分享這些信息。

有些應用程序則更加狡猾。《華盛頓郵報》發表的一篇文章指出，普通蘋果手機中的各種應用程序使用追蹤器能在30天內收集和分享1.5GB的數據。

雖然可以通過限制訪問來在一定程度上阻止這些程序，但更加有效的解決方案是安裝一種完全不同類型的應用程序，這種應用會阻止追蹤器，而不是激活它們。

8. 加密電子郵件

幾乎所有流行的消息應用都使用了加密手段，但很少人考慮尋求加密電子郵件服務。我們似乎滿足于處理垃圾郵件和網絡釣魚攻擊，依靠我們的智慧和良好的判斷力來過濾掉危險。

你應當是可以自己對電子郵件進行加密的，這要視電子郵件服務提供商而定。然而，要實現加密，你和收件人都需要啟用安全多用途互聯網郵件擴展協議，進行電子郵件加密設置，所以這種方式并不是在所有情況下都可行。

另一種辦法是，你可以使用第三方加密工具來完成加密。

9. 避免點擊來源不明的鏈接

網絡釣魚是一類有惡意的社會工程，而網絡釣魚郵件通常試圖誘導收件人點擊鏈接或打開附件。阻止它們的最好方法非常簡單，就是不要點擊或打開任何來源不可靠的東西。

永遠不要在電子郵件里透露個人信息，除非你絕對確定這封郵件發給的是誰。

雖然一些殺毒軟件包可以防范網絡釣魚攻擊，但保護網絡隱私的最可靠方法還是時時謹慎小心、處處保持警惕。

10. 管理智能設備

如果想要控制溫度，那么將冰箱與恒溫器互聯起來當然棒極了，但如果想要控制你的數據流，那么此類連接就很糟糕了。把所有設備都置于同一個網絡中實際上相當于把所有雞蛋放在同一個籃子里。

正如美國聯邦調查局警告的那樣，“冰箱和筆記本電腦不應該共用一個網絡”。這樣，如果有人非法侵入了你的冰箱，他也無法立即訪問你的筆記本電腦。你還可以給路由器加設VPN，并且對物聯網設備里的所有數據進行加密。

（譯者單位：戰略支援部隊信息工程大學洛陽校區）