Friday, February 23, 2018

Personal Practice – How to browse the Internet with more privacy & less ads!

Have you ever searched for anything online – say a watch, and then find that on every site you go ads of watches keep on appearing?
Do you hate when the entire page is full of flashing video & banner ads?
Does your computer suddenly slow down while surfing certain sites?
If the answer to any of the above questions is YES, then give me just a few minutes of your time and you will be browsing the net like a true PRO!
Internet is like a GIANT advertising machine. Most of the big players like Google, Amazon, Yahoo & Facebook etc. are following your browsing habits and creating ads according to what you surf, whether you like it or not.
Once they come to know that you like something or want to buy something, you will be bombarded with ads related to the same for days & weeks. In addition browsing unprotected can be a big security risk with many websites and unscrupulous people exploiting ads and browser pages to infect your computer with virus & even use it to run bad software without your knowledge!
Here are 3 very useful chrome extensions that you can easily install and get rid of most of this risk, and have a much better surfing experience.
For a step by step tutorial on how to add extensions in Chrome please visit this URL https://www.wikihow.com/Add-Extensions-in-Google-Chrome
Just search the Google Chrome Store & add these extensions here
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1. 1. Adguard
There are many adblockers on Chrome store, but this is my favorite. In fact I have installed paid version of this on my mobile too. However the desktop version is FREE, and here is how it is described “Unmatched adblock extension against advertising and pop-ups. Blocks ads on Facebook, Youtube and all other websites.”
 With close to 40,000 reviews and a 5 star rating, you cannot go wrong here.


2.       2. Privacy Badger –
Privacy Badger blocks spying ads and invisible trackers. It's there to ensure that companies can't track your browsing without your consent. Please ensure that you download the Orange color extension created by EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation).  While this extension may sometimes cause some websites that track you aggressively from not loading properly, if needed, you can always switch it off for a specific websites.

3.       3. HTTPS Everywhere
– This is another excellent protection tool created by the ever reliable EFF. As you may know, most websites that have passwords or are used for financial transactions use https (secure) webpage.
HTTPS Everywhere automatically switches thousands of sites from insecure "http" to secure "https".  It will protect you against many forms of surveillance and account hijacking, and some forms of censorship.


To conclude, in today’s world just simply browsing the internet puts you at risk of many privacy-related issues. An antivirus is unlikely to offer complete protection against many malicious software that can infect your browser. Just simply adding these extensions to Chrome can help you browse safely, efficiently and with much more privacy.

Dr. Gaurav Gupta