Managing your Privacy Online: Search Engines

If you are looking to attain utmost privacy while browsing the Web, you must first acknowledge that even the most basic and ubiquitous of tools like search engines tend to collect a ton of data every time you use them. Often this recorded information is like a puzzle comprising of IP addresses, search logs, and other data that needs to be connected before anything can truly be revealed about you. However, this glimpse into your online habits combined with personal and sensitive information you may have shared with third party sites -- banking information, credit cards, addresses or phone numbers -- could potentially expose you to identity theft and other privacy invasions.

All major search engines claim that they need to retain personal data, in part, to provide better services and improving results, while also taking countermeasures against web nuisances like click fraud and search poisoning (using elaborate SEO techniques to rank up scam websites on search engine indexes). Even if you trust that search companies will take your business seriously, there are various things you can do to adopt safe browsing habits and help protect your privacy. Read more at TechSpot.