Reduce the risks of privacy breaches while on the Web

My friend was entering a mortgage application on the Internet when he got cold feet.

He decided it wasn't wise to give out so much personal information to a company he really didn't know, just to get a quote for a mortgage.

He canceled the online application.

Or so he thought.

The next day came harassing sales calls to his cell phone -- the number he entered before he canceled the online mortgage application.

"I was bombarded with phone calls from various lenders," he said. "It got so bad I had to stop answering my cell phone."

Browser beware!

You really never know how a Web site is going to gather and use information about you as you peruse the Web. As this case shows, even if you don't explicitly complete a form, Web sites may surreptitiously gather information about you.

It's been awhile since we have discussed some of the rules for protecting your privacy online.

We all worry about identity theft. The bigger risk we face every day are these insidious intrusions into our privacy, all in the name of marketing. Web marketers want to know where we've been, what we've bought, what we're looking for, and what we're willing to tell them about ourselves, explicitly or otherwise. And they have a host of sophisticated and sneaky tools to get what they want.

With that in mind, here are some ways to protect your computer and your online privacy:

• Check the privacy policy of Web sites you visit, especially ones where you purchase items online.

Look for sites with seals of approval granted by organizations such as TRUSTe, BBBOnline or WebTrust. Seals indicate a site has a policy to protect personal information and won't sell your private data to other online marketers.

• Be careful about even casual information you give out online. Web sites use common site preferences, like age, sex and ZIP Codes for e-mail and banner marketing.
• Be wary of registering with search engines or using the search engine of your Internet provider. Many search engines, such as MSN, Google or Yahoo! let you create a personal account and login. When you log into a search engine account or use the search engine of your Internet provider, your searches can be linked to your personal information.
• Get a disposable e-mail address or alias to use online. That way if you start getting large volumes of spam at that address, you can abandon it and get another. (Warning, if you register for Yahoo e-mail, for example, use Google for your searches, so they can't be linked.)
• Set security and privacy levels in Internet Explorer. Open Internet Explorer and go to Tools/Internet Options on the menu bar. I set security to "medium" and privacy to "medium high." Unfortunately, if you block all cookies with "high" privacy settings, the Web becomes impossible to use. Other browsers, such as Mozilla and the upcoming Internet Explorer 7.0, have better privacy controls.
• Limit sites you use. I know people who are Internet price sleuths. They buy from the cheapest site they can find. It's best to limit your purchases to a few online, reputable vendors with strong privacy policies. The more sites you visit, the more likely your privacy will be compromised.
• Use strong passwords and protect them. That means numbers, letters (upper and lower case) and characters, eight to 16 characters long.
• Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software and update definitions regularly. Most of the new anti-virus programs have anti-spyware features.
• Regularly scan for infections. Slinky sites and hackers often try to install monitoring tools and detailed cookies on your computer.
• Use a hardware and/or software firewall. That makes it harder for bad guys to exploit vulnerabilities on your system.
• Don't reply to spam. Spammers use that as confirmation to indicate a live body is on the other end. Then they send more spam.
• Avoid "free" file-sharing and service sites. Many support their services by surreptitiously installing tracking or advertising software on your computer.
• Use only secure, encrypted Web connections for Internet purchases or banking online. Those sites begin with https and show a padlock in the lower right of the Internet window while connected.
• Be discreet. Never provide personal information unless absolutely necessary and only if you know you are dealing with a reputable site.

As my friend learned, your privacy is easy to lose online -- and impossible to get back.