Recently, the United States Congress voted to repeal the FCC’s privacy rules for Internet Service Providers. This means your Internet provider no longer requires your permission to sell things like your browsing history, application usage, location information and more. Essentially, everything you use the Internet for on your home or work network is up for grabs to be sold to the highest bidder.
This is great for the ISP’s who want to cash in on the estimated $50-60 BILLION dollar per year online advertising industry – not so much for the consumers of these companies, whose data is now being sold without consent, with no reimbursement.
While there are arguments that some ISP’s will use the promise of not selling your data as a marketing tool – many more will jump on the bandwagon and sell your data with no hesitation. Free market does not do well when there are giant companies who essentially have a monopoly on services. If a user has no other options – what choice do they really have other than to comply or go without?
That being said - while there is no magical button that will completely obscure everything you do online, there are things you can do, as a user, to help protect your privacy. This includes using VPN services or using browsers like TOR that are designed with privacy in mind and offer a secure and encrypted connection. Be wary about free services though – as a rule of thumb, if you do not have to pay for the service, you are the product being sold.
Any service like this will have its limitations and drawbacks however. When it comes down to it – it will really depend on how much you are willing to pay to keep your personal privacy.
