Hickman-Johnson-Furrow Learning Center
  • Home
  • About
    • Building Hours
    • Contact Us
    • Departments
    • Displays & Events
    • Common Reads
    • Employee Directory
    • Building Map
    • History
    • Maps & Directions
    • Mission & Policies
  • Resources
    • Articles & Databases
    • Books, CDs & DVDs
    • Ebooks
    • Full Text Finder
    • LearningExpress Tests
    • LibGuides
    • LibAnswers (FAQ)
  • Services
    • Academic Support Center
    • Course Reserves
    • Disability Services
    • Graduate Students
    • Interlibrary Loan
    • Reference Services
    • Writing Center
  • Collections
    • Archives
    • Bestsellers
    • Children's Literature
    • Films & Movies
    • Graphic Novels
    • Libros en Español
    • Main Collection
    • Music & Audio Recordings
    • Musical Scores
    • Popular Reading
    • Reference Books
    • Young Adult
  • HJF News
  • Get Help
    • Citation Help
    • Homework Help
    • Interlibrary Loan Help
    • Off-Campus Access
    • Research Help
    • Writing Help
    • LibAnswers (FAQ)

Keeping Your Digital Information Confidential

1/29/2015

 
Picture
By: Kayla Samek

People know how to keep their property safe and secure; they have locks on the doors to their homes and on their cars, they have PINs to help protect their money and banks to store it securely. However, not many people know how to keep their information safe online. Many people do not consider how easy it can be for others to track their private data, from Facebook messages, to Google searches, to shopping transactions. Internet users feel they are anonymous because their interactions are virtual. That may be true on the surface, but in reality all usage of the internet is recorded.

The data users leave around the internet is tracked and collected by the websites they visit and the companies that own them--but that data is also stored by different companies who sell users’ information to other companies or even the government. The only way to truly remain anonymous is to avoid leaving a trail of data. How can internet users do that? There are services available for free to protect internet users’ anonymity and help hide their data trails. Two such services, HTTPS Everywhere and TOR, vary in the depth of their security and how they operate, but are effective means of protecting digital information. 

A program called HTTPS Everywhere is available as an extension for browsers that encrypts the user’s information like their username and password. It is a simple plug-in for Firefox, Opera, and Chrome, and is even available for Firefox on Android, it is easy to use and is almost unnoticeable when operating (cnet.com). HTTPS Everywhere “provides a baseline of safety” for users of the internet (EFF.org). It was developed by the Tor Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to fix websites that use unencrypted and unsecure HTTP to call websites and information from the internet to the computer (EFF.org). It is not an end-all solution, however, as not all sites can be rerouted through HTTPS leaving them still unsecured.  

A more complete way to protect one’s online data is with HTTPS Everywhere and another program called TOR (The Onion Router), which was developed by the U.S. Navy to provide secure digital communications. Now, it is used by average citizens, journalists, and law enforcement alike. TOR works by using relays to bounce the user’s information, thus hiding the information and adding layers of privacy (EFF.org). These relays rely on volunteers’ computers to act as a relay point, which anyone can do. TOR can work with standard browsers but it also has its own specially-developed browser to run TOR most effectively and simply. TOR, like all encryption, is better when more people are using it, as it is easier to hide in a forest full of trees than it is in to hide in a garden.  However, some people are concerned about TOR slowing down their internet, because of the amount of relays the information goes through. Others worry about NSA and hackers breaking through TOR’s encryptions, but most problems have been identified as user error or the use of the TOR plug-in instead of the TOR Bundle.

These are just two of the most popular systems for internet privacy online, and have the best reputation with experts and users alike (digitaltrends.com, howtogeek.com). New developments have also been added to the table, such as the portable operating system Tails, which will encrypt data from a USB or even SD card when connected to a computer. Tails wipes all data the user puts onto the internet. As internet users want a safer browsing experience, developers will continue to create better and better tools to protect online privacy and anonymity.  

Comments are closed.

    Authors

    The articles written on this blog are authored by numerous individuals including staff, faculty and students of Morningside College.

    Categories

    All
    Archives
    Databases
    Displays
    Events
    Internet

    Event Info

    Edible Book Contest
    ​
    Film Club Trivia Extravaganza
    HJF Virtual Lecture Series

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    RSS Feed

HJF Home

M'Side Home

MySide

Hours

HJF News

Get Help


Hickman-Johnson-Furrow Learning Center | Morningside College | 1501 Morningside Ave | Sioux City, IA 51106 | 712-274-5195







Photos used under Creative Commons from ChristianeBue, One Way Stock, nicadlr, n.bhupinder, roberthuffstutter, TheBigTouffe, FDR Presidential Library & Museum, JeepersMedia, pouchie153
✕