Security online is feeling more like a rarity than a norm. Despite the stupidity of my teenage years, I have been fortunate enough to not be the victim of any cyber attacks. I recently got into my first car accident. While I was fortunate enough not to get hurt, it taught me an important lesson: just because something has not happened to me does not mean it cannot happen to me. Last week I found way more information publicly available through a Google search of my name than I thought was out there. While the information available was concerning, it only scratches the surface of privacy concerns.
The biggest privacy concern for me is how much Google and Facebook control my Internet usage. Of all changes I will be making, freeing myself from Google and Facebook is the most crucial change. I must say this change will not be easy and may never be truly complete. Foolishly, I have signed up for sites using Google or Facebook to login, forsaking security for convenience. Google likely knows virtually everything about my life, as I have used Google Maps, G-Mail and Google Chrome for years. Accessing either account could give a hacker endless access to my information.
Freeing myself from Google especially is going to take a lot of work. Some of the steps will be minor, though. For one thing, I will begin using DuckDuckGo for my search engine needs. Google tracking my information for advertisements concerns because that means that the information is stored and could fall into the wrong hands. Another change I will be making is switching from Chrome to Safari for further privacy. I originally used Chrome because I had a Windows computer and found Internet Explorer to be clumsy and obnoxious. Now that I have MacBook I can use Safari.
Password security has been a critical weak point in my online browsing. I found it simpler to use similar passwords for everything so I did not have to memorize so many passwords. Writing them in a journal was always an option, but I was always concerned that I would lose the journal and my security would be foiled. I was pleased to find out this week about about the existence of password managers. Now I will be fixing two problems. For one, my accounts will be more secure because the passwords will be better. Second, forgetting my password will no longer be an issue for me. For further security, I will also use two-factor authentication. My mortgage company recently made this mandatory at log in and I will be looking to do so on as many sites as possible.
While some of these changes will take a long time, particularly loosening Google and Facebook’s grip on me, they are certainly worthwhile. A malefactor accessing my information could have more damage than I can imagine. This week I learned that more of my information is collected and used than I thought. Even though I believed myself to be secure, I was not. No matter how many changes I make I also realize I will never be completely secure online. Despite the fact I was driving the speed limit and obeying traffic signals a few weeks back, my car was still totalled by a reckless driver. No matter the strength of my passwords or authentication practices, if someone wants my information they can get it. I have come to expect that anything I do online can be dug up. I am just going to work harder to bury it further.
