{"id":64484,"date":"2021-01-28T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T08:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foxtail\/?p=64484"},"modified":"2021-08-06T14:41:32","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T21:41:32","slug":"four-ways-to-protect-your-data-privacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/privacy-security\/four-ways-to-protect-your-data-privacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Four ways to protect your data privacy and still be online"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today is Data Privacy Day, which is a good reminder that data privacy is a thing, and you\u2019re in charge of it. The simple truth: your personal data is very valuable, which is why companies are always looking for ways to collect it. Once your data is collected, it\u2019s often impossible to know what it\u2019s being used for, how securely it\u2019s stored, who it\u2019ll be shared with or how long it will be retained. In addition to ad targeting, your personal data could be used for price discrimination<\/a>, employment discrimination<\/a>, service denials<\/a>, election influencing<\/a> and other insidious practices. But this isn\u2019t a hopeless situation. Here are four easy ways to be the boss of your personal data on all your devices every day of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Block the trail of supercookies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Supercookies are bits of data that can be stored on your computer by whoever is serving them up, like advertising networks. Compared to the more common tracking cookies<\/a>, supercookies are harder to detect and get rid of because they hide in various places and can\u2019t be automatically deleted. By injecting supercookies into your browser, the supercookie owner can capture a ton of your unique personal data like your identity, behavior, preferences, how long you\u2019re online, when you\u2019re most active and more. Supercookies can communicate across different websites, stitching together your personal data into a highly detailed profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re defiant, too. Supercookies don\u2019t go away when you clear your cache or delete cookies, making them a next-level tool in data collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we can help right now:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is that Firefox is making it harder for companies to track you with sneaky supercookies. The latest version of Firefox<\/a> <\/strong>(released on Jan. 26 \u2014 download here<\/a> ) greatly reduces their effectiveness by cutting off their ability to communicate across websites. Now that Firefox is blocking supercookie tracking, future updates will offer other new protections against various kinds of tracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep your ISP out of your business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Because your internet traffic passes through your internet service provider (ISP), they can see where you go online, how long you visit sites, your location and information about your devices. That\u2019s rich personal data ISPs can use to create detailed profiles about you. Popular belief is wrong \u2014 browsing in private mode doesn\u2019t prevent ISPs from collecting your data. However, connecting to the internet through a VPN \u2014 virtual private network \u2014 makes it much harder for ISPs to collect this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we can help right now:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

VPNs are handy security tools to protect your data privacy, but not all VPNs are equal. Some services will<\/a> log<\/a> your online activities so they can sell your data and information to marketing firms themselves. Backed by a mission-driven<\/a> company, Mozilla VPN<\/a><\/strong> doesn\u2019t engage in any of those practices. It delivers trusted privacy for all your devices, backed by a mission-driven<\/a> company that puts people over profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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