Beware sites that offer some sort of reward or prize in exchange for your contact information or other personal details
There’s a very high probability that they are gathering this information for direct marketing purposes. In many cases your name and address are worth much more to them because they can sell it to other marketers (who can do the same in turn…) than what you are (supposedly) getting from them. Be especially wary of sweepstakes and contests. You probably won’t win, but the marketer sure will if you give them your information.
Do not reply to spammers, for any reason.
“Spam”, or unsolicited bulk e-mail, is something you are probably already familiar with (and tired of). If you get a spammed advertisment, certainly don’t take the sender up on whatever offer they are making, but also don’t bother replying with “REMOVE” in the
subject line, or whatever (probably bogus) unsubscribe instructions you’ve been given). This simply confirms that your address is being read by a real person, and you’ll find yourself on dozens more spammers’ lists in no time. If you open the message, watch your
outgoing mail queue to make sure that a “return receipt” message was not generated to be sent back to the spammer automatically. (It is best to queue your mail and send manually, rather than send immediately, so that you can see what’s about to go out before it’s
actually sent. You should also turn off your mailer’s automatic honoring of return receipt requests, if any.) If you have a good Internet service provider, you may be able to forward copies of spam e-mail to the system administrators who can route a complaint to the ISP of the spammer (or if you know a lot about mail headers and DNS tools, you can probably contact these ISPs yourself to complain about the spammer.) If you are getting
spammed a lot, there are a variety of filters and anti-spam services available, including:
Spam Hater ( http://www.cix.co.uk/~net-services/spam/spam_hater.htm ) for Windows users; TAG ( http://alcor.concordia.ca/topics/email/auto/procmail/spam ) for experienced Unix users; SpamBouncer ( http://www.spambouncer.org ) for experienced Unix users (works well with TAG); BrightMail ( http://www.brightmail.com/ ) for ISPs; SpamCop ( http://spamcop.net/ ) for anyone;
More information on fighting spam is available at: Elsop’s Anti-Spam Page ( http://www.elsop.com/wrc/nospam.htm ); MaximumDownforce’s Info-n-Links Page( http://www.maximumdownforce.com/hotlinks.html ); Whew’s Anti-Spam Campaign ( http://www.whew.com/Spammers/ ).
Many of these are difficult to use for novices, and some require Unix expertise. Others are services that deal with ISPs only, not end users.
Be conscious of Web security. Never submit a credit card number or other highly sensitive personal information without first making sure your connection is secure (encrypted). In Netscape, look for an closed lock (Windows) or unbroken key (Mac) icon at the bottom of the browser window. In Internet Explorer, look for a closed lock icon at the bottom (Windows) or near the top (Mac) of the browser window. In any browser, look at the URL (Web address) line – a secure connection will begin “https://”intead of “http://”. If you are at page that asks for such information but shows “http://” try adding the “s” yourself and hitting enter to reload the page (for Netscape or IE; in another browser, use whatever method is required by your browser to reload the page at the new URL). If you get an error message that the page or site does not exist, this probably means that the company is so clueless – and careless with your information and your money – that they don’t even have Web security. Take your business elsewhere. Your browser itself gives away information about you, if your IP address can be tied to your identity (this is most commonly true of DSL and broadband users, rather than modem users, who are a dwindling minority). For a demo of how much detail is tomatically given out about your system by your browser, see: http://privacy.net/analyze/ .Also be on the lookout for “spyware” – software that may be included with applications you install (games, utilities, whatever), the purpose of which is to silently spy on your online habits and other details and report it back to the company whose product you are using. One MS Windows solution for disabling spyware is the Ad-aware program (shareware, from http://www.lavasoft.de/ ), which can remove spyware from your computer; it is based on a large collaboratively maintained database of information about spyware. Linux and Mac products of this sort are likely to appear soon. Java, Javascript and ActiveX can also be used for spyware purposes. Support for these scripting languages can be disabled in your browser’s configuration options (a.k.a. preferences, settings, or properties). It is safest to surf with them turned off, and only turn them on when a site you trust and want to use requires them. If you don’t know if your browser supports these languages or don’t know if they are turned on you can use BrowserSpy to find out (along with a lot of other information about your Web browsing software): http://gemal.dk/browserspy/ Another form of spyware consists of “webbugs”, which typically manifest themselves as invisible or nearly invisible image files tied to cookies and javascripts that track your Web usage. See http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=webbugs+%22web+bugs%22 for more nformation on webbugs. See also this webbug FAQ, http://www.nthelp.com/OEtest/web_bug_faq.htm for more details.
Dealing with webbugs when they are embedded in an otherwise legitimate page is thorny, as there isn’t a surefire way to distinguish between webbugs and run-of-the-mill image files. But see the Privacy Foundation’s Bugnosis webbug detector ( http://www.bugnosis.org/ – Windows MSIE only). When webbugs are loaded into popup pages, the solution is to close the popups (usually a small page with an ad, though some of them are “micropages” that you can barely see. A few may even use javascript tricks to keep
you from closing them. If this happens, close all other browser windows, then you should be able to close the bug window). Another tip for defeating webbugs is to reject any cookies from Doubleclick, AdCast, LinkExchange and other “ad exchange networks” (cookie sharing rings), and any other cookies that are not from the site you are currently visiting (most third-party cookies are basically webbugs). Lastly on this topic, be aware that HTML-capable e-mail programs and Usenet newsreaders make webbugs work in your e-mail
and newsgroups. If your mailer or newsreader has an option to turn off cookie support, you should certainly do so. There is hardly any imaginable legitimate use for a cookie in an email or a newsgroup posting.
Be conscious of home computer security.
On the other side of the coin, your own computer may be a trouble spot for Internet security. If you have a DSL line, broadband cable modem or other connection to the Internet that is up and running 24 hours (including T1 at the office without a firewall
or NAT), unlike a modem-and-phone-line connection, be sure to turn your computer off
when you are not using it. Most home PCs have pitifully poor security compared to the Unix workstations that power most commercial Web sites. System crackers search for vulnerable, unattended DSL-connected home computers, and can invade them with surprising ease, rifiling through files looking for credit card numbers or other sensitive data, or even “taking over” the computer and quietly using it for their own purposes, such as lauching attacks on other computers elsewhere -attacks you could initially be blamed for. Firewall hardware and software is another option that can protect you from these kinds of attacks (available at any computer store; freeware and shareware implementations may be
available at sites like http://www.shareware.com
or http://www.download.com.
Examine privacy policies and seals.
When you are considering whether or not to do business with a Web site, there are other factors than a secure connection you have to consider that are equally important to Web security. Does the site provide offline contact information, including a postal address? Does the site have a prominently-posted privacy policy? If so, what does it say? (Just because they call it a “privacy policy” doesn’t mean it will protect you – read it for yourself. Many are little more than disclaimers saying that you have no privacy! So read them carefully.) If the
policy sounds OK to you, do you have a reason to believe it? Have you ever heard of this company? What is their reputation? And are they backing up their privacy statement with a seal program such as TRUSTe http://www.truste.org/ or
BBBonline http://www.bbbonline.org/? (While imperfect, such
programs hold Web sites to at least some minimal baseline standards, and may revoke, with much fanfare, the approval-seal licenses of bad-acting companies that do not
keep their word.) If you see a seal, is it real? Check with the seal-issuing site to make sure the seal isn’t a fake. And examine terms carefully, especially if you are subscribing to a service rather than buying a product. Look out for auto-rebilling scams and hidden
fees.
Remember that YOU decide what information about yourself to
reveal, when, why, and to whom. Don’t give out personally-identifiable information too easily. Just as you might think twice about giving some clerk at the mall your home
address and phone number, keep in mind that simply because a site asks for or demands personal information from you does not mean you have to give it. You do have to give accurate billing information if you are buying something, of course, but if you are registering with a free site that is a little too nosy for you, there is no law (in most places) against providing them with pseudonymous information. (However, it would probably be polite to use obviously fake addresses, such as “123 No Such Street, Nowhere, DC 01010″. If they are generating mailings based on this information – presumably in accordance with the terms of their privacy policy – they can probably weed such addresses out and not
waste the postage on them. Definitely do NOT use someone else’s real address!) However, if you are required to agree to terms of service before using the free service, be sure those terms do not include a requirement that you provide correct information, unless the penalty is simply not being allowed to use the service any more, and you’re willing to pay that price if they figure out you are not providing them with your actual personally-identifiable information.
Use encryption!
Last but certainly not least, there are other privacy threats besides abusive marketers, nosy bosses, spammers and scammers. Some of the threats include industrial espionage, government surveillance, identity theft, disgruntled former associates, and system crackers.
Relatively easy-to-use e-mail and file encryption software is available for free, such as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP, available at: http://www.pgpi.org/), which runs on
almost all computers and even integrates seamlessly with most major e-mail software. Good encryption uses very robust secret codes, that are difficult if not impossible to crack, to protect your data. You can also use specialized services (some free, some pay)
that go beyond infomediary services, including running all connections through a securely encrypted “tunnel”, anonymous dialup, even anonymous Web publishing. Another type of product is SSH tunnelling (port forwarding) packages, such as FSecure SSH ( http://www.fsecure.com/products/ssh/ ),
and SecureCRT ( http://www.vandyke.com/products/securecrt/ ).
https://www.eff.org/wp/effs-top-12-ways-protect-your-online-privacy