In its infancy, anonymity was one of the main attractive features of the internet. As the network expanded into a massive digital world we know and love today, the priorities of provided services drastically changed.
The early stages of an ever growing digital environment showed potential for great power and technological leaps for groups that were qualified to restructure the world with information technologies. Big tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Apple dominate the web by supplying the most powerful software and hardware. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media networks provide incredibly convenient and addictive entertainment with opportunities to connect with people all around the world. All of these companies ask users to create their personalized accounts that contain private information and ensure the best possible services for users based on their prior actions, purchased products, and other behavioral patterns that prove useful to algorithms.
While remarkable convenience shows clear benefits of products and services supplied by these tech giants, the centralization of power and cooperation with advertisers helps them track and manipulate users on frequently visited websites. What users get in attractive features and well-selected entertainment, we must pay with our privacy.
Make no mistake, online tracking and surveillance have reached the point of no return. Not only is every step on the web being tracked, but the digital footprint will also remain there forever. To make things worse, the rate of user tracking does not match progress and innovation. In the age where the value of big data generates larger income than the focus on better goods and services, customers get treated as parts of one successful product.
Privacy is valued by all of us, but it can be an uphill battle to keep your data private online – even when you turn off your location settings and take extra measures. Forget social media networks – the simplest modern apps can track your interests, location, and other specifics – pretty much everything you collect on your phone.
In this article, we will focus on the frustrating battle for online privacy. While the return to the old days of anonymity of the web seems impossible, there are tools that can help us preserve some elements of anonymity, dignity, and security. We still have VPNs and proxy servers to distort the delivery and information contained in delivered data packets. Simple datacenter proxies can help you visit geo-blocked websites as if you were an anonymous user in the same region. To learn more about proxy servers and their providers, click here. For now, let’s discuss the infuriating disregard for online privacy and the inhumane approach to modern technology.
The extent of blatant tracking
Most casual web-surfers expect only big tech giants to extract and abuse user data. In truth, the reality is much grimmer. Suspicious yet useful applications, as well as software from companies in authoritarian governments, are vacuums of information that blatantly steal accumulated data from computers and mobile devices. While the main tech companies do enough tracking on their own, the newinstances of exposure force them to inform the user about their privacy and data. To minimize exposure, research the apps and software you plan to install before giving up your private information to unknown, potentially dangerous companies.
Only give what is necessary
While most modern websites greet the user with the statement about respect towards the visitor’s privacy, most web pages offer a quick button to agree with all cookies and data exposure. Even when confronted with cases of unauthorized tracking, tech companies encourage the user to save time and agree to complete exposure of information instead of the minimal settings. While you might be in a hurry, make sure to take your time and only give essential information for the proper functioning of websites instead of choosing a quick way out.
Reduce your digital footprint with proxy servers
Proxy servers are a popular solution that will hide your network identity and keep you safe. Proxies can help prevent companies from using your private information for marketing or other purposes. Some businesses can restrict your entrance to certain websites or localized versions of a page. There are different kinds of proxy servers. With residential proxies, you receive an IP address from an authentic device in any location around the world to mask your identity with an intermediary server. Datacenter proxies are a cheaper option that offers better speed, but their addresses are far more common and easily recognized on the web. The growing demand for proxy servers highlights the frustration of internet users and the desire for online privacy.
While the days of private and anonymous internet are long gone, disgruntled internet users show an active interest in internet privacy tools. While counteracting some trackingmethods seems difficult or even impossible, the discoveries of user data abuse will continue to encourage new tools of privacy assurance.
In an era where complete internet privacy and anonymity have become increasingly challenging to maintain, there is a growing interest among internet users to protect their digital identities. While countering all tracking methods may seem like a formidable task, the alarming revelations of user data abuse have spurred the development of innovative privacy assurance tools.
