9 Firefox extensions to protect your privacy by Mike Gunderloy describes a few extensions designed to help protect your privacy when surfing online. Mostly they deal with controlling your cookies and masking your own IP address with proxy surfing:
“In light of the continuing brouhaha over online privacy … it’s worth asking the simple question: what can you do to keep control of information about your online activities? While some folks think it’s paranoid to worry about this, others prefer to choose what they tell the data collectors. Fortunately, there’s a tool as close as your desktop that can help you considerably in this area: the Firefox web browser.”
Via American Libraries Direct 5/28/2008.
My impression is that most (public) libraries use Explorer rather than Firefox, but that industry experts give Firefox credit in being more secure than Explorer. We agree that protecting our patrons’ privacy is important, that giving out information about their lending records highly restricted. The same principle should also govern their library web usage. We can’t offer foolproof security or privacy to our patrons, but we sould at least try to offer better alternatives.
Public computers are prone to phishing, keyloggers, viruses etc.
Online password managers are a great way to protect your passwords while away from your personal computer.
I work for Passpack which as you may have guessed is an online password manager and I recommend using things such as Disposable Logins (aka One Time Passwords) so even if you do have a keylogger on your computer – you are safe.
The internet is as secure as you make it.
Louise