According to Intel, every minute 639,800 gigabytes of information are transmitted around the net. Unfortunately, in that same minute, twenty people find themselves victims of identity theft. Many more find themselves victims of less nefarious actions such as data mining. Data mining occurs when your Internet behavior is tracked, profiled and then stored. This information is often then sold to advertisers and/or government agencies. This means that every click, website visit, purchase etc. does not go unnoticed. In order to keep your information private and provide yourself with a better sense of security here are some top tips to keep your Internet usage private:

SURF SAFER

– Avoid using Google Chrome, Internet Explorer or Safari. Google Chrome has been reported to monitor usage information and sell to targeted advertising.

– Instead try using Firefox, Opera, or Tor. The Tor Browser Bundle prevents anyone from learning what sites you visit and your physical location. Their website states, “Tor can’t solve all anonymity problems. It focuses only on protecting the transport of data.” This is a mass improvement to keep your Internet usage private compared to the competitor browsers.

EMAIL MORE SECURELY 

– Email encryption adds an extra level of security. To ensure this extra level of security make sure to encrypt the following: connection from your email provider, your actual messages, your stored, cached, or archived email messages.

– Lockbin.com promises to secure and keep your emails private while sending.

BEWARE OF HOTSPOTS

– Hotspots can often be unsafe, leaving all your personal information exposed.

– Try Hotspotshield.com, which aims at protecting your privacy, surfing anonymously and hiding your IP address.

ENCRYPT YOUR FILES

– Using TrueCrypt.org you can protect your hard drive and existing files.

– Keep in mind that no encryption scheme is 100% but it’s still a step closer to keeping your Internet usage private and better securing yourself.