Back off

Privacy;
We all want it. Preserve it. Cherish and love it.
Anonymity, control, confidentiality; These words seem less tangible in today’s online world. The internet has certainly changed our control over what we call ours. But there are obviously two sides to the argument of protection and deterioration of privacy policies.
- Features like Facebook and Gmail can use our private information such as search habits, favorite products, age, gender and location to target advertisements. This may help us find what we need better and find an efficient way to connect to our needs on a daily basis.
- This information can also make the life of journalists easier to discover, uncover, and present news to the public.

Oh, but wait:

- What if you don’t want this information to be public?
- Some experts suggest this violates privacy laws.
- How do you protect your name and image to be used in ad targeting and product promotions?

I found this: a ten step manual to protect your privacy online

1. Look for privacy policies on the Web
2. Get a separate email account for personal email
4. Clear your memory cache after browsing
5. Make sure that online forms are secure
6. Reject unnecessary cookies
7. Use anonymous remailers
8. Encrypt your email
9. Use anonymizers while browsing
10. Opt-out of third party information sharing
Extra! Use common sense


Wow! This seems like a lot of work for a medium that was created to save time.