Say you have Googled several nearby pet stores. You found one, reviewed the products, and closed the browser. Soon enough, websites you visit feature ads for pet items like food and accessories. The same pet-focused goods follow you on social media like Facebook. Then, you notice YouTube ads for nutritious cat food. How did this happen?

Well, your search query suggested to advertisers that you are interested in pets. Furthermore, it likely told them whether you have a cat, parrot, dog, or hamster. As a result, you will notice an increased number of ads focusing on this interest.

Your behavior decides the ads you see on the net. A process called targeting crunches all your data so companies can form a picture of what you do online.

The sites you go to, the ads you click on, the products you pick for your cart—everything might be exploited. If you feel like this is intrusive, the tips below can help you browse with more privacy and peace of mind.

Delete Your Information from Data Brokers

Data brokers know a lot about internet users. They also put all this information for sale, and interested parties can purchase it. Data brokers can have user information like their interests, visited websites, preferred hangouts, etc.

However, remember that it will be anonymized, meaning such information won’t necessarily be linked to your identity. Instead, it could be associated with random identifiers that do not represent you as a person.

The issue is that with enough data, deanonymizing profiles is possible.

Three major sites collect the personal information of consumers: Family Tree Now, Fast People Search, and Cyber Background Checks. Usually, you can request that details about you would be removed from them.

Pick A Search Engine Offering More Privacy

You can also limit advertisers snooping on you by switching to a new search engine. The search engine DuckDuckGo is an option worth considering. You can search the net without being tracked or having your information collected and shared. The only downside is that DuckDuckGo doesn’t come up with search results as good as Google. Thus, you won’t notice personalized search query results. Additionally, DuckDuckGo won’t accurately predict your search queries as you type them into search bars.

Get a Virtual Private Network

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) encrypts the data traveling between your device and the internet, boosting your privacy and security. By hiding your IP address, a VPN for PC at your home can prevent online entities from knowing your approximate whereabouts.

Additionally, it protects all activities you perform, be it streaming, shopping, or online gaming. Of course, a VPN cannot stop all tracking activities. However, it guarantees more secure internet connections and prevents IP-based tracking.

Customize Your Settings

Check the settings on Facebook or Google and choose options that prevent advertisers from tracking you. On Facebook, it’s best to limit who can see your posts, photos, and life events. Make sure that you check settings for permissions, cookies, and data on each site. These settings help you control what info of yours can be used by websites to some extent.

While modifying settings for the most popular services is common, review every app you have. In some cases, you will need to evaluate the permissions that installed apps have. For instance, an application that has no legitimate use for your contacts should not request access to it. If it does, decline it.

Choose A Better Browser

Not all browsers deal with your data equally. For instance, Google Chrome is the most popular browser, with billions of people using it. However, it is far from the best when it comes to users’ privacy. If you care about your privacy but wish for a popular and well-known browser, try using Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari. If you are welcome to smaller projects, you can explore Brave.

Another upside of more private browsers is that they come with better default settings. For instance, protections against third-party cookies or browser fingerprinting might be active as soon as you install them.

Conclusion

Apart from preventing intrusive ads, we should always look to enhance our online privacy and security as we live in unsafe times. Incidents of significant data breaches occur with alarming regularity. It’s not just advertisers; there are cybercriminals tracking consumers as well.

You should therefore leave no stone unturned to protect your online privacy and security. The methods we have suggested help a great deal. Just a few clicks on the mouse can boost your online safety considerably. Do take the time to give these methods a try.