News of US surveillance tracking citizens’ activities online has been rampant for months now. More people are becoming aware of this scheme by the government, and privacy is threatened on all sides. Every time you go to a website, your “digital prints” are left there for prying busybodies to dig into. These groups do not only involve government spies but marketing organizations as well. They need your information to be included in their market studies so they can learn more about customers to better improve their products or services. This is technically known as “data harvesting.”
Data harvesting and other ploys done by potential online thieves are things that people are not happy about. Most internet users would rather stay anonymous when browsing the web. One global service provider has found this tool called Lightbeam which allows users to monitor which websites are tailing them. This free add-on by Mozilla Firefox shows you which sites are sharing your information with other sites. When you download the tool here and have it installed, you will see an icon at your browser’s bottom right portion. If you click on the icon you will be routed to a new window which will show the Graph, Clock and List. With these options you can see the number of sites tracking you with their filters, recently visited sites, and daily and weekly statistics.
Although Lightbeam does nothing beyond collecting information for you, it gives you a picture of how internet tracking works. You’ll see how multiple connections of third-party sites can work with one another by gathering information to fill up their “crowdsourced” directory. There’s an option to browse privately and you can use this to pull out information from the computer you’re using but not from the server. This makes it easy for advertising companies to collect data from cookies you leave on the sites you visit.
So what should you do if you are among those concerned about online privacy? The best solution to this problem is by using a VPN. A VPN allows your traffic to be directed through a private server and makes your online activities hidden. This is a sure way to keep snoopers off of your grass and give you absolute freedom in surfing and communicating with your friends and loved ones.
Fortunately, we have tested VPN providers like HideMyAss that can boost your online protection with anonymous browsing, secure uploading, and more. With HMA! Pro VPN, all your sensitive web traffic is safely hidden behind tens of thousands of IP addresses in over 100 locations. You can also check out other VPN service providers to see which one you think is best for you.
| Rank | Provider Name | Starting Price | Money Back Guarantee | Visit Provider Site |
 |
ExpressVPN | $6.67/month | 30 Days |  |
| 2 | Hidemyass | $6.55/month | 30 Days | |
| 3 | IPVanish | $10.00/month | 7 Days | |
| 4 | StrongVPN | $21/ 3 months | 7 Days | |
| 5 | VyprVPN | $14.95/month | 7 Days | |
