Big Brother Watching

You do an internet search and then, not long after, an ad for the very thing you searched randomly pops up on another page you're reading. Pretty creepy.

"It feels like an invasion of privacy," internet user Manny Martinez said. "It just feels like someone's always monitoring your every step."

And it's going to stay that way. Congress recently passed a law rejecting internet privacy rules.

Cyber expert Jacob Lott, owner of Computer Doctors in Tampa, says your internet service provider, web browsers, and search engines all keep track of your every move.

"Essentially, they are stalking you on the internet," Lott said. "They know everything you're doing and so (they) can better sell to you or better provide more information."

Cookie Trade-offs

Every time you visit a site, a little data file called a cookie is stored on your computer, which makes it possible to track you. You can turn them off, but there's a trade-off.

"The more privacy you have, the less functionality you have," Lott explained. "Cookies allow you to, for example, automatically store your user names and passwords and your login to websites, but they also help search providers track you."

Some websites have an option for you to disable their cookies, but if you do, it usually also disables certain features on the site and makes your experience more clunky and less enjoyable.

Martinez says he's just come to accept the good with the bad.

"It's just the way it is," Martinez said. "Anything like that has to have some sort of benefit. It's what makes it acceptable."


Websites like Amazon keep track of how many times you view a product or make certain purchases.

Tracking Your Habits

By tracking your browsing habits and preferences, search engines, like Google, make your browsing experience faster and more convenient. Your searches are more relevant to your interests, because they know what you like. All of this information is very valuable, of course, and sold to marketers who want you to buy stuff, which is why those creepy ads pop up.

Besides cookies and web browsers tracking you, when you sign up for an account on websites like Facebook, you give them permission to track you and save information on your activity.

Websites, like Amazon, keep track of how many times you view a product or make certain purchases, which help them to suggest new products for you to buy.

And video sites, like YouTube, collect information on videos you watch, which, in turn, lead them to recommend more videos you might like.

Protecting Your Privacy

If you want privacy, you can set your browser on privacy mode. Just right click on your browser icon and a list should pop up with a privacy feature. Click on that and it takes you to a private browsing page.

"For example, on Chrome it's called Incognito, for Firefox it's New Private Window," Lott said.

Or you can use a browser like Tor, which has pre-set privacy settings, but Lott says Tor is not meant for everyday use, because it reduces functionality.

Unfortunately, none of this gives you complete privacy. It eliminates the browsing history from your own personal computer, but still allows websites to track your visit.

So what’s the point of private browsing, then? "So somebody else in your house doesn't know what you're doing," explained Lott.


When you sign up for an account on websites like Facebook, you give them permission to track you and save information on your activity.

Privacy Protectors: VPN’s

To keep outside websites from tracking you, your best option is to use a Virtual Privacy Network or VPN.

Lott says they're simple to use and many are not too expensive.

"You right click it. You hit connect it. And that's it. Everything you do is now anonymous," Lott said, demonstrating on his computer.

VPNs essentially allow you to securely connect to a server run by your VPN through an encrypted connection.

"A VPN has thousands of other people in it and also scrambles and encrypts your information," Lott said.

So, as a result, when you use a VPN, websites, browsers and search engines know someone is there, they just don't know it's you.

The cost of VPNs can vary, but you can generally sign up for about $10 a month or less.

One thing to keep in mind with a VPN is that it will make your internet slower, because it's anonymous and you're connecting through somewhere else.

Bottom line: When you’re on the internet, beware that someone can and likely is watching you. The only way to protect your privacy when you’re online is to make the extra effort to do it yourself.

To learn more about how to set your web-browser on privacy mode and to find out more about VPNs, click here.