Software tips: secure surfing - 1

On June 12, 2019 I wrote an op-ed on the subject of Facebook and privacy, which also was a review of one of its social media alternatives, MeWe. The gest of the article was: 'Facebook has such a bad track record on privacy that you can't trust it, or its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. So, jump ship and have yourself rescued by MeWe'.

At the same time I realized that there are many more companies and websites that track your activities online. Privacy is a hard-to-come-by commodity on the web these days.

One sensible principle to live by is to always check - and change, if necessary - your cookie settings! I know you get tired of websites asking for your consent, but if privacy is important to you, that's an annoyance you will have to learn to live with.

But there is more. There are many programs and addons that can enhance your online privacy and safety. This is part one in a series of articles that address the internet and safety, the uncomfortable relationship between the two and the software you can use to surf more securely.

Image of surfer and shark by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

The following programs and addons make a good start:

The browser

Since this post is about a more private online experience, we should have a look at the tool we all use to go online: the browser.
Browsers are unsafe by nature, just like swimming among white sharks is unsafe by nature. It's a good development that more checks and warnings get built into browsers to protect against - for example - phishing attempts or hijacked websites. And, of course, you should always check if a site has a safe connections: the address bar should display a lock icon and the address itself should begin with https instead of http (the 's' stands for 'secure').

Browsing the web is like surfing among white sharks: it's unsafe by nature.

Having a secure connection, however, does not mean that your privacy is guaranteed. It only means that the traffic between your pc and the website you are visiting cannot be seen by someone from outside, like a hacker.

1. Epic Privacy Browser

#privacy #safety

Homepage: epicbrowser.com

Obviously, second to becoming an internet recluse, surfing the web with a safe browser is your best bet at keeping your data private and secure.

Epic Privacy Browser, or Epic for short, will help you with that.

Epic is based on Chromium, the same ancestor that Google Chrome and SlimJet have.

Don't expect a private or incognito mode in Epic: there is none. That is because it has private mode always on. In their own words: "All your browsing should be private." Using Epic is like driving a car with enhanced bumpers, air bags and safety belts, no number plates, no gps and with an invisibility cloak that Jean-Luc Picard would be jealous of.

Epic has an invisibility cloak that Jean-Luc Picard would be jealous of.

Of course, there is more than just a standard private mode. An overview:

1. Incognito or private mode is always on: Epic has no other mode,
2. All known tracking methods are blocked (e.g.: webrtc and device fingerprinting with image canvas data),
3. A free built-in VPN: encrypted proxy enabled by default. Furthermore, every tab is a separate process for more security,
4. Trackers, third-party cookies and ads are blocked. On average this results in a 25% faster page load, according to Epic,
   • an unobtrusive popup shows how many trackers were blocked on a page
5. One easy button to disable certain privacy options if a site doesn't work with the browser's standard settings,
6. All browsing history is deleted after ending the session,
7. Epic's own private search engine: EpicSearch,
8. Nice to have: integrated video downloading.

The blog on blog.epicbrowser.com has some very interesting, and also pretty disturbing, articles on privacy. One article I found very insightful was about ultrasound signals emitted by browsers. Curious? Go hand have a look!

Pros

• Next time you are using a public WiFi hotspot, just use Epic Privacy Browser and feel blissfully safe!

Cons

• While searching is done via EpicSearch, a privacy abiding search engine, Bing is used when searching images.
• 'Normal' Chrome extensions cannot be installed in Epic. Only seven extensions are available in the Epic extensions store, at least one of which doesn't seem to work.
• No Android or iOS version available.

Browser plugins

Browser plugins are small add-on programs that you can install into your browser. Generally, they enhance the functionality of the browser. There are literally hundreds of add-ons available, most of which work on Chrome, Firefox and Opera. If you work with Safari (macOS) you are mostly out of luck.

Plugins can enhance your browser's functionality, some can form a threat to security, but some can also help make your online experience safer and more private. So, if you're not ready to go all Ninja yet with Epic Privacy Browser, the following plugins (in no particular order) are highly recommended:

2. Facebook tracking pixel

#privacy

Website: fbleadapp.com

This addon acts as a firewall to prevent Facebook from tracking the webpages you go to by blocking all Facebook related requests sent from all third-party websites.

3. Privacy Badger

#privacy

Website: eff.org

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. They work "to ensure that rights and freedoms are enhanced and protected as our use of technology grows."
Privacy Badger automatically learns to block invisible trackers.

4. Email Privacy Protector: Is My Email Tracked?

#privacy

Website: email-tracking-blocker.com

Know when someone is tracking your email and block it. The addon hides when you open a message. You can control when sender can see that you read their email.

5. EditThisCookie

#privacy

Website: editthiscookie.com

Aside from the basic cookie editing tools, EditThisCookie makes it possible to block, protect and bulk-edit cookies.

6. DuckDuckGo Privacy essentials

#privacy #safety

Website: duckduckgo.com

DuckDuckGo is 'the search engine that doesn't track you.' This extension is more than just the search engine. It provides the privacy essentials you need to seamlessly take control of your personal information.

7. Adblock Plus - free ad blocker

#privacy

Website: adblockplus.org

Adblock Plus blocks all annoying ads, thus loading pages faster and making them cleaner. Acceptable ads (from a list of criteria agreed upon by the Acceptable Ads Committee) are allowed by default to support websites, but can also be disabled to show no ads at all any more.

8. Adblock for Youtube

#privacy

Website: sites.google.com/view/adblock-for-yt

Adblock for Youtube does for Youtube what Adblock Plus does for websites. It is not created by the same developer though.

9. LastPass: Free Password Manager

#privacy #safety

Website: lastpass.com

LastPass remembers all your passwords, so you don't have to. The name refers to the fact that the master password for LastPass is the last password you will ever have to remember.

You may have alternatives for the software I mention in this article. I'd love to hear from you if you do. And also, please send a link to any software or extensions I may have missed, so I can review them in one of my next articles.