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NewsWest 9 Interview: Is your search history private?

by John Pitts 
Owner of MidessaTech

It is once again our pleasure to be a guest consultant for KWES News West 9 , and this week's topic is Internet privacy.
I met with Chelsey Trahan at the Channel 9 TV Studios between Midland Odessa and we discussed the latest House of Representatives vote on Tuesday to repeal Internet privacy rules approved by the FCC before Obama left office. These rules will impact computer and smart phone users here in the Permian Basin and globally.  The rules would have required Internet service providers to get your permission before gathering or sharing your data.  But not anymore.
 
What does this mean?  Well, your online privacy has eroded even further.  Up till now we only had to the ads we see on Google, Facebook and YouTube and similar 'content provider" websites.  They are targeted ads based on our searches or browsing habits.  But now the ISP's are trying to monitize their subscribers by ad targeting and selling your information to 3rd parties without asking for your consent.  This  means you may see your web search results affected by advertising. Instead of just seeing banner ads on the familiar sites mentioned above,  you will start having pop-ups and web pages that redirect to advertising that your ISP has chosen for you.  Information is no longer private about where you are, what apps are using or what what web pages you visit. You eventually might not even control your homepage or search engine.  Dont be intimidated, there are ways to protect your privacy.  Here are some great reccomendations from leading online privacy advocates at The Electronic Frontier Foundation. EFF's Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy

One of the best ways to protect yourself is with a VPN.  A VPN creates an private encrypted connection through the internet.  Your ISP cannot see your internet data through a VPN.  This is important when you consider shopping, banking, medical information and your children are exposed.  A VPN is inexpensive.  Besides protecting your privacy, a VPN also protects you from hackers trying to intercept your information.  There are many VPN services to chose from.  One of the more popular ones we hear good things about is PrivateInternetAccess.com.
Video on NewsWest 9 website

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 KWES Video
Thank you Chelsey Trahan