Boosting Online Privacy

A HOST OF BROWSER EXTENSIONS CAN HELP YOU KEEP AWAY SITES TRACKING YOU.

- Nidhi Singal

Every time you visit a website, you leave behind a digital footprint. These traces of information might include search history, social media account information, and much more. Some of this is stored in the form of cookies, text files that contain two pieces of information — the name of the site and a unique user ID. Some of these cookies help you remain signed into your e-mail accounts, some remember your site preferences and some even present you with locally relevant content, improving the browsing experience. These are first-party cookies created by the websites you visit.

However, there is a flip side too. A big chunk of cookies is created to track your profile or surfing habits. Often, these are third-party cookies, added on to the various websites you visit. While it is difficult to identify these third-party cookies, you can get rid of all cookies while deleting browser history, or change cookie settings in your browser to eliminate them altogether. But there is a catch. If all cookies are turned off, you may face trouble signing into your Gmail account or visiting many websites. Let us look at ways to safeguard oneself from unwanted third-party cookies.

Built-in Browser Settings