14 top tips to protect your online privacy in 2021

Take your internet privacy seriously. With cybercriminals stalking the internet and social engineering attacks on the rise, it’s prudent to keep yourself safe and guarded on the web.

Protecting your privacy online does require some work, but it will keep your personal information the way it should be—personal. You’ll also be protected from cybercrime and monitoring by advertisers. What’s more, online privacy protection can prevent strangers on the internet from tracing your actual location.

Here are 14 online privacy tips that can help keep your data protected online.

1. Keep your devices up to date

It’s easy to ignore those pesky alerts reminding you of the latest software update, but they serve a critical purpose. Hundreds of thousands of new malware strains are released into the wild every day, which is why we urge you to guard against zero-day exploits by keeping your devices up to date.

And it’s not just your online privacy that will benefit from an updated app or operating system. You can also expect improved functionality, more features, and a better user experience. 

2. Don’t access confidential accounts on public networks or devices

It’s best that you don’t log in to your social media or online bank accounts at all when you’re using a public Wi-Fi network such as those in libraries, coffee shops, airports, and malls. Such networks routinely gather and send your data to third parties, and rogue networks can snoop on your traffic and passwords or inject malware onto your device.

The best way to protect yourself against such risks is to avoid accessing your social media or online bank via a public connection or someone else’s device. But if you have to (or really really want to), you should…

3. Use a VPN

Connecting your device to a VPN redirects all of your device traffic through a secure and encrypted tunnel. This means internet service providers or malicious entities trying to peek at your online activity will only see meaningless garble.

What’s more, using a VPN allows you to access content that is blocked in certain countries and can even help you save money while shopping. When you’re connected to a VPN, third parties will only see the IP address of the network you are connected to, instead of your real IP address. Be sure to use a VPN before logging on to unsecured public Wi-Fi networks, where hackers might lie in wait. 

In fact, using a VPN should be standard procedure for all forms of internet usage, public or not.

4. Be wary of online contests, surveys, or guaranteed prizes

It’s common practice for companies to ask for your email address or personal details in order to “unlock” certain content or to enter you in a contest. On the surface, submitting a simple email address may not seem like a big deal. The truth is marketers use your personal information to serve you ads. Worse still, they often sell it to other companies for profit.

When faced with these situations, remember to ask yourself: How useful is this service that I’m exchanging my email address for? How likely am I to win this prize? Chances are, you almost certainly won’t win anything, but the marketer will definitely have gained a new lead for future monetization. If you really must enter the competition, use a burner email address instead of relying on your primary one. 

Some examples of contests include those surveys you might see on Facebook or inside gaming apps, promising you a reward each time you enter personal information. Many such apps ask to access data beyond what is justifiably required. Treat them with extreme caution. 

5. Don’t share your location online, and turn off your GPS

Sharing is rewarding. After all, who doesn’t want to show off their vacation on Facebook or pictures of a fancy dinner on Instagram?

However, this makes it very easy for third parties to track your exact location and can potentially lead to actual physical harm. Pokémon Go players, for example, have been lured and mugged by armed robbers pretending to offer rare Pokémon.

As an additional measure, we recommend that you turn off your phone’s GPS and don’t allow apps to access your location unless absolutely necessary. This helps minimize your digital footprint.

6. Don’t interact with suspicious emails

Receiving the occasional fishy email or spam is almost guaranteed, no matter how closely you guard your email address. But how you treat them is what matters.

The first (and only) thing you should do is to delete those emails. By opening the email or clicking any links inside it, you are likely inviting malicious attacks on your device and personal privacy.

Furthermore, never reply to suspicious emails. Don’t give in to the temptation to reply and ask to be removed from the mailing list, as that will likely confirm to the spammers that your email address is indeed active—inviting more messages in the future. Find the unsubscribe button in the email and use it. Or, mark the email as a phishing attempt so it never reaches your inbox again. 

Replying to spam also indicates to your email provider that you actually find these emails useful, making it less likely that they will be labeled as spam moving forward. In short, ignore and delete any emails you consider spam and click “report spam” for any spam emails that have not been identified as such by your email service.

7. Use a strong password

Three of the most common passwords are “QWERTY,” “password,” and “111111.” Don’t use these. The least you can do to guard your online privacy is to rely on strong passwords that are alphanumeric.

Start by using a mix of numbers, letters, and special characters. If you want help coming up with a strong password, use a random password generator. Other tools to improve your password protection include two-factor authentication, password managers, and Diceware.

8. Manage your cookies

Cookies: Not only do they go great with milk, they’re also used to de-anonymize you online. Broadly speaking, websites use cookies to construct a virtual identification. This allows companies to track your movement and behavior across websites and feed you targeted ads.

To defend yourself against cookies, you can get browser add-ons such as uBlock Origin or Privacy Badger. 

9. Browse with greater anonymity

You should use tools that allow you to use the web with a higher level of anonynmity. For a browser that is great for privacy, try Tor (and learn more about it here). If you’re looking for tracking-free web search, use DuckDuckGo. This list of best browser add-ons for your privacy is handy, too. 

On a related note, beware of shortened links, and don’t open them unless you’re using a private browser such as Tor. The problem is you can’t tell exactly where a shortened link leads.

Oh, and of course, remember to use a VPN.

10. Only use encrypted messaging apps

Encryption might be under threat in the U.S., but it’s a powerful method of ensuring that you keep your personal chats private. When choosing a chat app, inspect whether it offers end-to-end encryption (the gold standard) or merely encryption in transit.

If you’re stuck and unsure of which messaging app to pick, check out our list of the most secure messaging apps. 

11. Stick to browsing on HTTPS secured sites

See that little padlock icon on the top left corner of your browser, next to the URL? That indicates that the connection between your device and the website is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS), preserving the integrity of your data against things like man-in-the-middle attacks.

While HTTPS doesn’t guarantee safety, it’s still the best option to maximize your privacy. Try to limit browsing on unsecured sites, and never engage in any online transactions on such pages. Additionally, you can also use the HTTPS Everywhere browser extension (which also comes with ExpressVPN’s browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge) that forces the site to deploy HTTPS if it’s available. 

12. Try to keep your social media accounts private

If you’re trying to guard your online privacy and security, you should do all you can to prevent search engines and crawlers from indexing information about you. If you keep your instagram account public, that means anyone with an internet connection and knowledge of your handle can find and stalk you online.

And if you’re in the habit of creating stories or uploading photos, public social media feeds can be used against you. Keep them private and only let verified friends and family members into your personal domain. 

13. Remember to log out of all websites when done

Logging out of your social media accounts, email clients, and online bank accounts after using them is akin to locking your front door when you leave home. It’s quick and simple and prevents unwanted intruders from gaining entry.

Some people erroneously believe that closing the browser tab or window is enough to prevent others from accessing your account. The truth is that you may still be signed in to your account on that device, leaving you vulnerable. The only way to stay safe is to log yourself out when you are done using an online service. 

14. Be careful of what you share online

Finally, remember that you are the one who controls what information you share online. If you don’t share it, they can’t get a hold of it. In keeping with this idea:

• Do not give away your “real” email address for online giveaways or for websites that might engage in dubious marketing practices.
• Do not share any personal data on public/unsecured machines and networks.
• Even if you are on a secure device or network, remember that anything you share online effectively becomes permanent, and can be shared or manipulated without your knowledge. A good way to see if this is happening is to Google yourself periodically.

Read more: The ultimate guide to mobile security for iPhone and Android devices