Of course, everyone should be concerned about their online privacy. However, I do believe that some take that concern to extremes, almost to the point of paranoia.
Windows Privacy
Remember the furor over telemetry when Windows 10 was first released, with conspiracy theories aplenty and comments such as “Windows 10 is spyware” common? I said at the time that the majority of telemetry (data collection) was necessary to enhance the experience for users travelling with a laptop, and those users running a desktop PC that never leaves home could very easily disable all that additional telemetry.
Windows has always included a certain amount of telemetry (since Windows 7), the sort of anonymous telemetry that lets Microsoft learn and analyze user habits, but when Microsoft decided to take on the mobile market with Windows 8 and beyond, the amount of telemetry was increased out of necessity.
Take Location Services for example; if you’re travelling and stop for the night in an unfamiliar town, you can’t expect your Windows laptop to let you know where the nearest pizza shop is if it doesn’t know where you are.
Not only did the amount of telemetry increase, but when Microsoft did the right thing by providing settings to disable much of it, that also inadvertently made it far more apparent.
The bottom line is, the Windows 10 that was once maligned as being spyware is now one of the most popular Windows operating systems ever. We are a fickle lot!
Browser Privacy
The browser is one component that I firmly believe should be as private as humanly possible. Your browser divulges multiple snippets of information about yourself and your system that can easily be used to form a unique “fingerprint” to follow your activities around the web.
At the time of writing, Brave is the only browser that includes an effective anti-fingerprinting feature. Brave’s built-in shields also automatically block third-party ads, trackers, cross-site cookies, and phishing attempts.
For ages I was a dedicated Firefox user but converted when Brave was released. I occasionally use Edge, but I would never use Google’s Chrome, and it amuses me no end how it can be the most popular browser on the planet.
Cloud Storage Privacy
Cloud storage is another area where users tend to voice privacy concerns. In my opinion, those concerns are largely unfounded. No, cloud storage services do not read your documents, nor do they look at your photos. And, if you have those sorts of concerns, the solution is a simple one – encrypt your data before uploading.
On a final note, there is one aspect of online privacy that does concern me, and that is with data over which we have no control. You would be amazed at just how many organizations have your personal data stored in their databases, the very same databases that we are continually reading about being hacked, with millions (and even billions) of personal information compromised.
I would like to see all governments legislate for punitive measures against any organization that doesn’t properly secure its user database.
BOTTOM LINE:
It’s prudent to be concerned over online privacy, but please don’t let paranoia spoil your experience. If you disable all non-essential Windows telemetry, use a privacy-centric browser, and treat everything with a good dose of caution, there is nothing to be overly concerned about.
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