Does it seem like we all know at least one person who has been hacked or had identity-theft problems? Heck, in South Carolina (where I live) the entire Social Security Department got hacked. Hundreds of thousands of SS numbers were exposed. They had to give free privacy software to EVERYONE in the state!
Now, with that guy running around in exile in Russia, hacker “vigilante” groups like Anonymous, and growing questions about what the government does with the info it collects, people are getting more interested in online privacy. WAY more interested.
In recent days, American Consumer News reports:
- Online privacy firm Abine said that downloads of its free DoNotTrackMe browser add-on, which blocks commercial web tracking, increased by 42 percent.
- DuckDuckGo is a search engine that, unlike Google, Yahoo and Bing, doesn’t collect or store the data of its users. They got a mention on CNN and Bloomberg, and business went through the roof. Four days in a row of record-breaking traffic, up 33% over the previous week.
Why the focus on commercial web traffic? Because, regardless where the information ends up, commercial traffic is where info-gathering begins.
So, how about you? Are you being more careful? What are you doing? Do you feel safer? Let us know at the MindField Online Facebook page!
BTW, be sure to check out the privacy section of the MindField Online official website!