Privacy Tips That Do Less Than You Think
These tricks can help you, but before you use them, it's critical to understand their limitations
We love tips and tricks for protecting your privacy. But some widely repeated techniques aren’t as helpful as you might expect.
An online pseudonym, for example, won’t fully conceal your identity. Nor does the incognito mode on your web browser.
While both offer some safeguards, it’s important to understand their shortcomings before you use them. The same goes for the other techniques listed below.
“I wouldn’t discourage anyone from taking these steps,” says Justin Brookman, director of privacy and technology policy for Consumer Reports. “You just need to know that they aren’t bulletproof. They’re effective at slowing down infringements on your privacy and security as long as you have a clear picture of their limitations.”
$ecret P@ssw0rd C0de
Strong passwords are hard to remember. That’s why many people try tactics such as taking a familiar word and replacing “A’s” with “@’s” and “E’s” with “3’s.” But these days criminals have software capable of beating those kinds of ploys. The best passwords are long, random strings of letters, numbers, and special characters.
Editor’s Note: This article also appeared in the October 2019 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.