Let’s talk about internet safety.

We want to make sure you are not getting tracked through website scammers, having high chances of getting viruses, and giving away your location through metadata! So let’s get into this.

Browser Add-Ons

First, I recommend getting an addon to your browser that blocks “trackers”. Some services offer this in addition to being an ad and popup blocker. My personal favorite is Ghostery. It is a free extension that does both adblocking and tracker blocking. You can find them here : https://www.ghostery.com/

Their website also includes a blog for more information about protecting yourself and your information.

VPN Services

Now, I’d recommend getting a VPN. VPNs cloak your IP address to wherever you’d like to be put in the world. There are plenty of free VPNs and paid for VPNs out there. I, again, use a free VPN. It is called Windscribe and if you sign up here, you get 11 gbs of free data usage a month : https://windscribe.com/?friend=mvreta75 They also have a referral program which allows you to gain more GBs from signing more people up to use the service. I highly recommend it. They do offer premium accounts, and have plans ranging from $1-$9 per month for more of their services.

You can also find more information about different VPN’s from this CNet listing : https://www.cnet.com/best-vpn-services-directory/

Metadata

Now, let’s talk about metadata. This sort of stuff tracks your locations of where you’ve taken pictures or done your videos. MOST Canon, Nikon, and other DSLR camera companies do NOT save location data unless you have a GPS installed onto your DLSR camera. For most phones though, location features are automatically turned on.

For information on Android phones check : https://www.ubergizmo.com/how-to/turn-off-geotagging-android/

For iPhone check : https://www.igeeksblog.com/disable-geotagging-for-photos-on-iphone-ipad/

For removing metadata from videos check out this guide from reddit users : https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/8gbs2e/remove_video_file_metadata/

This article was written for us by Diya Rose, if you’d like to contribute to the AP Lounge, please get in touch via email.