Can you avoid being spied on by using your browser's Do Not Track feature? This is what you should know
In order to improve your privacy on the Internet, browsers have different configuration options. You can make adjustments and thus achieve more privacy in browsing, in addition to maintaining security. But does the “Do Not Track” option really help? We will talk about it in this article. We will explain to you whether this is something you should take into account or if, on the contrary, it will not improve your privacy.
The goal is to keep your data as safe as possible on the web. It is important to prevent your personal information from being made available to third parties and compromising your online security. Keep in mind that the browser is also a very interesting gateway for cybercriminals.
The benefit of Do Not Track mode
You can find this option in Google Chrome, for example. It’s under Settings, and the basic idea is that the sites you visit can’t track you. For example, when you go to a web page, there are what are known as cookies. This can be useful for that page to show you more information relevant to your language, save your preferences, etc.
But of course, all of this could be considered tracking. These websites will collect information from you and your device and affect your privacy. If all of that ends up in the wrong hands, there could be a problem. To prevent that from happening, there is the Do Not Track mode. At least on paper, what this function does is send a command indicating that the user does not wish to be tracked.
However, the thing is, this doesn’t help much. At least, not as much as we might expect. Legally, there’s no reason for these sites to take this request into consideration. That is, they may or may not notice when we put the “Do Not Track” flag. The truth is, there’s no guarantee that this will be the case.
In short, the usefulness of Do Not Track mode will depend on the websites we visit. There will be those who do it and maintain privacy properly, but on the other hand, others will not notice it and track you.
How to browse privately
So what can you do to browse privately if Do Not Track mode doesn’t always work as expected? For example, you can use a privacy-focused browser. There are a few options, such as the Tor Browser. Although they have other limitations, such as speed, if what you’re looking for is improved privacy, it’s an interesting one.
You can also get specific browser extensions that can provide that extra privacy. They will prevent other pages from tracking you. This, again, can have its downsides, such as losing certain functionality when browsing the web.
Another option to browse privately is to use a VPN. The connection will be encrypted, so your data will be more protected. However, the main thing is always to maintain common sense. In many cases, privacy issues arise after errors at the user level. This can compromise the proper functioning of devices, expose a lot of information on the network, etc.
In short, using Do Not Track mode in your browser is meant to prevent websites from tracking us. However, this does not mean that this always happens. You can look for other alternatives that may be useful for achieving greater privacy.