Be a Better Internetter - a campaign by doteveryone logo

Some handy hints to make your tech work better for you when you shop, search and share online.

Why go incognito?

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Most browsers (programmes and apps like Chrome, Firefox or Safari) and search engines (like Google or Bing) gather personal information about you from the sites you visit and what you click on or type in. They store this information in your browser history and using website cookies.

Companies can use this kind of information about you to vary the prices that they charge - for example if you’ve looked at a product before they may think you’re really interested in it and would be prepared to pay a bit more…and so the price they charge goes up. Going incognito makes it harder for websites to get this information about you and can protect you from price discrimination.

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What do I do?

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It’s easy to turn on incognito - though each browser or app has a slightly different way of doing it. This is our favourite place to go for clear step-by-step guides to incognito for each of the main browsers:

How do I set my browser to Incognito or Private mode? Read Less

What am I sharing and who with?

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When you use websites, apps and social media you create a trail of information about yourself, what you’re interested in and who you are connected to. Once this information is shared online it can be used to target information or advertising to you and is sometimes also sold onto or used by other companies. Your privacy settings control how companies can use your information and also which friends you share information with on social media.

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What do I do?

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It’s worth checking the privacy settings on the apps and websites you use most so you’re not sharing more than you’re happy with. This website has useful links to the privacy pages for most of the main apps and websites:

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What's obscuring your view?

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Most social media sites like to promote the things they think you'll be most interested in so that you'll spend more time using their services. This means they filter the posts which appear in your social media feed based on what you - and the people you’re connected to - have clicked or commented on in the past. But doing this creates a 'filter bubble' - you see more and more stuff that you and your friends already agree with and don’t get to see information from other points of view or about things you didn’t know about. You’re not getting a clear picture. If you switch off the filter, you will see things in the order they were posted and are more likely to get access to a range of different news and information.

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What do I do?

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You can burst your filter bubble by turning on chronological timelines in social media where possible and turning off notifications about news you don’t need to see urgently.

How to view Facebook and Twitter in chronological order Read Less

These are just some of the steps you can take to become a better internetter.

Here are some more easy tips:

Do now

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  • Check your privacy settings on big platforms such as Google and Facebook. Your settings influence how your personal information and service usage data is shared between the service provider, third parties, friends and the public. They can also sometimes be used to turn off functions which some people don’t like, such as personalised adverts.
  • Turn on two factor authentication (2FA) where you can, and use a password manager to help keep your accounts secure. Two factor authentication requires both a password and a second piece of information (such as a fingerprint or a special code generated by a specific phone). A password manager allows you to store passwords in a digital vault, making it easier to use hard to guess passwords and ensure you have a different password for every account.
  • Install a tracking blocker or an adblocker if you don’t want to see adverts. Tracking blockers prevent invisible trackers from monitoring your online activity and collecting information about you, and adblockers stop most pop-ups and online adverts from appearing on your internet browser.
  • Use a privacy preserving browser (such as Brave) or search engine (such as duckduckgo) if you wish to reduce gathering of your personal information online. These services store less personal information and browsing data than conventional browsers or search engines.
  • Use a virtual private network (VPN) to help keep your personal information safe and prevent some types of price discrimination. VPNs create a secure tunnel from your device to the services you want to use online, preventing internet service providers from tracking what you do, and increasing security when using public WiFi systems.
  • Turn on chronological timelines in social media where possible and turn off notifications about news you don’t need to see urgently, if you want to reduce the impact of filter bubbles. Non-chronological timelines use algorithms to determine which content is shown to users, and typically prioritise content that will retain users’ attention, conform to their existing interests and paid-for by third parties.
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Do regularly

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  • Update your devices and apps and remove or turn off apps you don’t use.
  • Clear your cache. A cache stores temporarily saved data to make a site, browser or app more efficient. If you’re not already using a tracker blocker, clearing it ensures private information isn’t stored and used to help target personalised advertising and pricing. It also means it’s not accessible by future users of the same device or vulnerable to hacking.
  • Check prices on a different device or browser before making a big purchase online. Looking at a service or product more than once on the same device or browser may result in the price changing if service providers are able to track browsing data.
  • Check terms and conditions where you can - there are tools which help explain T&C’s such as Terms of Service, Didn’t Read and try to avoid ones
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Take caution

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  • Only install applications from authorised app stores. Apps downloaded from unauthorised or outdated sources may contain vulnerabilities and bugs that may affect your device or leave personal information vulnerable.
  • Don’t look at private information on public wifi. Public wifi networks are less secure and more susceptible to hacking than private networks
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    If you want to do more

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    • Set up an alternate social media account, follow people from the ‘opposite’ side of the debate or try out other sources of news and information. Many social media and browser algorithms prioritise content that fit in with users’ existing views and interests, causing ‘filter bubbles’.
    • Build up your ability to identify online misinformation - try things like the University of Dundee/BBC Fake News toolkit or use factcheckers like FullFact and Snopes.
    • Consider paying for services. If you do not like receiving targeted advertising or having your personal information collected, paid services can support other business models.
    • Individuals in the European Union, as of May 2018, now have additional data protection rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - use them and complain where your rights are breached.
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    Doteveryone’s recent People, Power and Technology report explores how the nation thinks and feels about internet technologies. It reveals five digital blindspots - areas in which people have a poor understanding of the fundamentals of how technology operates.

    Be a Better Internetter is part of the action we’re taking to help people take more care of their digital lives, to understand how technology works and how it shapes the world around them.

    Find out more about the
    Be a Better Internetter campaign