Tag: Privacy (Page 1 of 3)

In 2019, I started writing a bit about the different things I was using to make my online experience a more private (because I, like many of you, think privacy is important 🙂).

Though I’ve not written much about since then, I have found a couple of utilities that I use to help my browsing experience. Though they don’t necessarily fit in with things you may find in my articles on privacy, they still help with certain things that are simply annoying.

Here are are a couple of Safari extensions that I’ve found useful to have installed on iOS when browsing the web.

Back in 2019, I started writing a series of posts around the idea of how to maintain privacy on the web (because it was a growing concern at least for me). As I wrote then:

For many of us, we’re well aware of the privacy implications of the software and services many of us use on a day-to-day basis even if we’re not sure just how this information is shared.

14 March 2019

Things haven’t slowed down with regard to privacy and though I’m still consistently on the lookout for different services, utilities, applications, and so on, I thought it might be useful to round up everything that I’ve drafted thus far.

So here’s a rundown of material I’ve covered in both 2019 and 2020.

I try not to use Chrome but, from time to time, various applications or projects necessitate its use.

I still like the speed of the browser and I really like its debugging tools but the data collection that Chrome performs is one that I dislike and I see no reason for the organization to change its practices. For more information see this, this, this, and this, and this.

And sure, some of the above advice is anecdotal but these are just some of the more common things that people are going to come across if they start looking into what the browser is doing. There are plenty of deeper analyses of what the browser does from a deeper technological standpoint.

Oh, and if you’re looking at Ghostery, read this fun thread, too.

But the purpose of this post isn’t to digress into all of the things that Chrome is doing (the when, how, and why), but instead its about sharing extensions that I’ve found to be useful when using Chrome.

In a previous post, I talked a bit about Fathom Analytics and what a fan I was of the service when it first launched.

Now that a few months have passed and the product has further evolved, I wanted to revisit the service and share a few things that I like about it.

When it comes to privacy and web browsing, I’ve talked Firefox in a previous post. In the same post, I also stated:

I’m actually a fan of Safari for casually browsing the web. That browser coupled with 1Blocker makes it a solid alternative.

As far as Firefox is concerned, I still think it’s a fantastic browser but if you’re looking for a seamless experience between macOS and iOS 1Blocker alternative solution that I’ve been using for a few weeks.

The motivation for privacy (which I’ve previously shared) still stands but it may not be the same for you. I’m approaching it with the following attitude:

• what I’m comfortable with using may not be the same for you (and vice versa),
• and privacy and security are not terms that I use interchangeably.

That said, the rationale for using software like this alongside a browser that’s bundled with an operating system (remember when that was a big deal?) rather than a third-party browser is different.