Simply put, privacy while using the Internet is called Internet privacy. In a broader sense, Internet privacy is the ability control which and how much information about a person is revealed over the Internet.
Internet privacy is not assertive. This means that privacy over the Internet means different things to different people. While some advanced users may prefer to have complete anonymity while using the Internet, others may have no problem with revealing certain non-personal information including the IP addresses of their systems.
- Cookies
Cookies are simple text files that store information about a user’s preferences when he or she browses a particular website. The reason why cookies are dangerous is that anyone with a little advanced programming skill can easily access such cookies irrespective of the creator of the cookie. Though cookies were originially conceived to be created and retrieved by the same website, this is not so in real practice, making them a vulnerable area. However, modern browsers have a built-in option to delete all cookies that are stored on the disk or further still, disable cookie creation altogether. It is notable, however, that some websites may not be able to perform smoothly without the cookies they created.
- IP addresses
The IP address is a unique numeric code that helps in identifying a particular system connected to a network (including the Internet). Since data that travels over a network as an IP address attached to it (which is the destination system where it has to be delivered), it is possible for a person to interrupt this data in between and extract the IP address of a person. If an ISP follows lenient policies, a lot of information about a system can be extracted from the IP address, including the exact geographical location of the system. Also, IP addresses are the first thing hackers and crackers look for before breaking into any system (because the IP address is what identifies a system they can attack). A workaround to this problem is the use of a proxy server which acts as a middleman between a server and a client. The client connects to the server through the proxy, thus hiding its own IP and showing the proxy’s IP to the server.
- ISPs
Internet access is typically provided by an Internet Service Provider or ISP. When a consumer connects to the Internet, all the data to and fro the Internet passes through the ISP. Hence, there is a possibility that the ISP may ‘track’ this data, though most ISPs do not indulge in such activities. They may, however, record certain data (including IP addresses), in order to identify browsing habits of a customer. This information is sometimes highly sensitive. AOL has often been blamed (and proven) to log such information. There exists a workaround to this as well. When using a secure connection, such as the HTTPS protocol, the information or data being transferred between the server and the client is encrypted. When a strong encryption is used, it is nearly impossible for the ISP to determine or read what data is being transferred. However, the ISP addresses of the two parties that are connected together are still known. Again, as a work around, a proxy server maybe used to prevent the revelation of the IP address of the receiver of data.
- Data logging
Data logging is a feature that is present in many operating systems and application programs. Under this, information pertaining to usage of the computer itself as well as that of the Internet is stored in a file or a collection of files. If a third person is able to gain access to the computer (and hence the information), it would be easy for him to misuse such information and use it for illegitimate purposes, hence making it a threat to privacy.
