Fight Surveillance: Protect Your Privacy Online with a VPN

The sites and services we trust for shopping, socializing, and learning seem to be tools for surveillance. Recently, a new investigation by 404 Media has revealed that ShadowDragon, a US government contractor, is exploiting publicly available data from websites and services like Etsy, Reddit, Tinder, and Duolingo - to fuel mass surveillance programs for US government agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Mozilla Foundation is launching an urgent campaign targeting 30 key websites and services (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Google, YouTube, WhatsApp...) currently being used as fodder for shady surveillance tech, calling on them to protect our data, increase transparency, and strengthen privacy protections. So what can we do as individuals?

This blog introduces the importance of privacy protection and how to protect your privacy as an individual.

Why is Your Online Privacy So Important?

You might think that you won’t have to deal with any of the common online privacy issues as your e-activity is not worth tracking. All you do is browse through different websites and search engines or post updates on social media platforms. No one could have an interest in that, right? However, the fact is just the opposite.

Lots of surveillance tools track your connections, map your movements, and piece together your digital life, turning your ordinary online activity into a Huge database.

Give a detailed example. Nowadays, advertisers, entrepreneurs, and all the other information profiteers depend on tracking your cookies to spy on your identity learn what you could be interested in shopping, and push relevant products to you to increase the probability of consumption.

Potential Risks and Threats

The potential for personal surveillance to cause a range of harm can be severe, particularly when these tools are used without consent or inappropriately.

Privacy invasion

Surveillance tools, especially GPS trackers or social media monitoring tools, can collect personal information without the user's consent and infringe on personal privacy. Personal communications, behaviors, location, social interactions, and other private data may be collected, monitored, and made public, resulting in loss of privacy.

Information security risks

Some monitoring tools like spyware, malware, and keyloggers, may steal personal sensitive information (such as passwords, bank card information, etc.). Personal accounts, finances, and identities may be stolen, causing financial losses and identity theft. Additionally, If the collected personal data is not properly protected, it may be exposed to hackers or other malicious third parties through data breaches. Data breaches may lead to the disclosure of personally identifiable information, financial data, or private information, and the probability of being defrauded online may increase.

Restricting internet freedom

People under surveillance may change their daily behavior for fear that their actions will be recorded and may not dare to express their opinions on the Internet. This kind of self-censorship not only restricts personal freedom but also goes against the original intention of free discussion on the Internet.

Personalization and information overload

Many social media analytics and data mining tools can over-personalize an individual's interests and behaviors, pushing a flood of ads and information. This can cause individuals to feel information fatigue or frustration, and can also trap individuals in "Information cocoons," limiting people's perspective and cognition.

How does Turbo VPN Help Protect Personal Privacy?

As an individual, you can choose a VPN to protect your privacy when surfing the internet. VPN stands for "Virtual Private Network", a service that protects your internet connection and online privacy. By encrypting your connection, a VPN hides your IP and online activity from prying eyes and protects your data from cybercriminals.

Turbo VPN is the best choice for the following reasons:

Safeguard Your Cybersecurity with Automatic Kill Switch

An automatic kill switch is an automatic feature of a VPN that automatically disconnects your devices from the internet connection until the VPN connection is restored. A VPN with an automatic kill switch is the best way to protect your cybersecurity even when you turn off the VPN connection accidentally.

Once your VPN connection drops, the kill switch will turn off your internet connection automatically to protect your IP address from getting exposed by ISPs, hackers, and more.

Specialize Your Protection with Split Tunneling VPN

Split tunneling refers to a technological concept that allows people to divide their internet traffic and sends some of the traffic to encrypted VPN. In short, by using a split-tunneling VPN, you can select a specific website or application you want to get access to with a VPN while the rest of your internet traffic has stayed with the local network devices.

Moreover, using a split tunneling VPN is also a great way to save your bandwidth. You can access a specific application, website, or content by using a VPN while surfing the rest of the internet with a public network, which could indirectly lead your internet speed to go faster.

Safeguard Your Online Activity with VPN Encryption

A VPN encryption generally refers to a process of generating a key to encrypt digital data which makes unauthorized parties such as ISPs or hackers can't access it. It narrows down your connection with the internet to only you, the server, and the client. In a nutshell, VPN encryption is end-to-end encryption.

Turbo VPN has a no-logs policy, which means Turbo VPN does not and will never track or collect any information about your online activity and prevent ISP from tracking your personal information and online activity. In addition, Turbo VPN encryption can encrypt your sensitive data and information, such as online bank accounts, passwords, browsing history, and more. It protects your online privacy from being exposed to abusive government, authority, or hackers. A reliable VPN encryption ensures that your online information and activities will be 100% enclosed and fully protected.

Protect and Encrypt Your Privacy from Public Wi-Fi

There have been times when you have run out of your internet service and had to use public Wi-Fi to surf the web. It's quite common. However, using an unfamiliar and free public Wi-Fi could expose your online information. It's important not to use public Wi-Fi unless you're connected to a VPN to protect your online traffic.

A reliable and secure VPN, Turbo VPN allows you to surf the web through a private tunnel, preventing insecure Wi-Fi from decrypting your online activity. Your personally identifiable information, financial data, or private information is not easily stolen by hackers.

Masking Your IP Address

By masking your real IP address, it is more difficult for websites or hackers to track your actual identity or location. In addition, some websites or services may restrict content or access based on geographic location (such as streaming services), and VPNs can help you bypass these restrictions.

When you use a VPN, your device connects to a VPN server. This server acts as a middleman, and all Internet requests from your device will pass through this VPN server before accessing the target website or service, so your original local IP address will be replaced with the IP address of the VPN server. Local IP addresses often reveal your geographic location, network operator, and other information. After using a VPN, external websites can only see the IP address of the VPN server and cannot track your actual IP address and location.

Support Multiple Devices

Whether your device is a computer or a mobile phone, Turbo VPN can protect your privacy. Turbo VPN is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Chrome. What's more, if you are a Platinum VIP, you can log in to up to ten devices with one account. Gold VIPs can log in to up to twenty devices. This is perfect for sharing with friends and family.

Other Privacy Protection Measures

Furthermore, there are some other measures you can take.

1. Use strong passwords or passphrases for your accounts.

Longer than a password, passphrases should be strong and unique for each site. Don't use 123456. Bring some randomness and special characters into it. And don't use the same password for different websites. Weak or reused passwords make it easier for hackers to gain access to your accounts.

2. Opt-out of data collection

Many websites and services collect extensive personal data for advertising or other purposes. Check privacy policies and adjust your opt-in/opt-out settings for each service you use. Regularly review and manage the permissions granted to apps and websites, and revoke access to unnecessary data. At the same time, you can also turn off personalized advertising recommendations.

3. Beware of phishing and social engineering

Hackers often attempt to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information through emails, phone calls, or text messages. Be skeptical of unsolicited emails or messages, particularly those asking for personal information or login details. Verify the sender before clicking links or downloading attachments. Always use official websites or apps to log in to your accounts, and never follow links from suspicious emails.

4. Regularly review and update privacy settings

Companies often change their privacy policies and default settings, which can expose more of your data than you realize. So you can regularly review the privacy settings on your devices, apps, and social media accounts. Opt for the most private options available, and be cautious about granting unnecessary permissions. If you’re not using an app, consider deleting your account to minimize the data the app holds on you.