Online Privacy

First, it is important to understand that different online services offer different privacy possibilities. Before buying any online service or product, you should check if it is compliant with the characteristics suggested by the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), asking yourself:

1. Can I change the default password?

2. Is my personal data encrypted?

3. Does my device update security automatically?

4. Do I know where my data is stored… and who can access it?

5. Do I know what my device is revealing about me?

The European Union takes online privacy very seriously. EU data protection rules [1] guarantee the protection of your personal data, and is applicable to both organisations based within and outside (such as Facebook or Amazon) the EU who offer goods or services in Europe, whenever these companies request or re-use the personal data of individuals in the EU. 

Finally, there are some existing apps and plugins which can help you manage your online privacy, such as:

• Disconnect, a plugin able to find invisible trackers so you can decide whether or not to shut them down. 
• MyPermissions Privacy Cleaner will run in the background and alert you if a website or social media platform tries to get your information.
• Ghostery will let you know when it blocks a tracker and show you its source, explaining how blocking will or won't affect your browsing.
• Privacy Badger analyzes how you're being tracked, especially across sites, and blocks third-party trackers that launch in the background when you launch your browser.
• HTTPS Everywhere automatically stops malicious tracking from loading by showing you the HTTPS version of the sites you visit.

References

[1] European Union. Data protection and online privacy. https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/internet-telecoms/data-protection-online-privacy/index_en.html