(1) The browser you use, did it come preinstalled on your device?
Your purchase information: the device, your name, email and physical address, provided to the merchant may have given to the manufacturer to ship or register the device and all applications, including the browser, installed on it. Every computing device has unique identification numbers always visible on the internet to identify the device and its activity. For example, the manufacturer uses these identifiers to deliver the right software and bios updates to your device.
(2) Is the browser you downloaded free to use?
Well, you know the modern observation: “if you’re not the paying customer, then YOU ARE the product.” There is nothing free in life, and especially on the Internet. Free browsers from Google, Microsoft, etc. allow them to monetize your private information, and is why they are free. “Private” browsers have some advertised privacy protections, but being FREE raises the issue of what they are monetizing to pay for the costs of updating their browser?
(3) Can you download, upload or attach content from your device to a website or in an email?
Actually, this is probably the easiest way to tell if you’re completely private and secure. Can you upload a video to YouTube, post a picture on Facebook or attach a document in an email?
If you are able to download, upload or attach any content, then your device is able to “connect” to another computing device: this means that you are not secure and certainly NOT private.
(4) What happens when you visit your favorite sites?
When going to your favorite sites, are you required to login, or are you automatically logged into the site? In addition, when checking your email (Gmail, Yahoo, AOL), do you need to log in every time?
If automatically logged in when you visit these sites, they can recognize you by the cookies on your device. It also means other sites can identify you as well.
(5) Do you need to clear your cookies and cache?
Cookies… they are little pieces of code that are attached to your browser and device when you visit a website. Some are very useful because they help a website identify you when visiting them. Other types, including so called 3rd party cookies, are used to track and identify your browsing.
If you have never cleared your cookies, then it’s safe to say that you are an advertiser’s dream for giving them so much information.
Have you ever had to clear your cookies to get functionality back on a site? This is because the site uses cookies to give you its user experience and you have so many 3rd party cookies that their website cannot handle them all. When you delete cookies, the problematical website functionality is restored.
Have you ever deleted cookies and they just don’t seem to go away. This is because some 3rd cookies cannot be deleted. They automatically still appear when you restart the browser. You actually have very limited control of cookies on your web-browsing device.
(6) When a website asks you to enter an email address, or username, in a form, does your browser auto-fill it in for you?
Of course, remembering website passwords is a pain. Knowing that, browsers now make it easy to remember your password by filling in this info for you. However, this info IS STORED on your your device with the browser, which can be VERY dangerous if visiting malicious sites.
(7) When you visit your banking website, are you asked EVERY TIME to verify your identity with either a text message or confirmation email?
Almost all financial related websites now require a second type of verification, when they do not recognize the device and username. If you are not required to do this when logging into your bank site, it means the bank can easily identify the device. If the bank can identify you, so can other sites you visit.
(8) When you start typing in a web address does the browser auto-fill or auto-suggest the website?
Typing in web addresses can be a real pain. When you start typing a URL in the address bar, does the browser auto-fill or auto-suggest it for you? If so, your browser is basically saying “we see what you are typing and we already know where you usually go.” Was the browser’s educated guess about you spot-on?
(9) Can websites correctly identify your browser?
Go ahead and open your browser in incognito mode or private mode, and then visit www.whatismybrowser.org
Is that your browser? If that site can identify your browser, it means a website can “read” your computer in order to identify you and the cookies on your device. Understand also, that when a websites read your device in this manner, it means they can also “write” to your device and place cookies on your device.
(10) With your current device, have you ever logged-into Google, Facebook or Amazon?
It is almost impossible to say no to that question. Google and Facebook are extremely good at reproducing your browsing activity across ALL the other devices you use online INSTANTLY. And deleting your activity on one device does NOT delete it on the other devices you use. In fact, as soon as you use one of your other devices, this history shows back up. It’s a game you loose of “Wack a Cookie”. Think about this common experience, have you ever done a search for an item, and then have an ad for it show up on another device?
Facebook and Google are designed to deliver such targeted ads, and consequently now own 90% of the internet advertising market.
Here is how a TraceFree user answers the the same above questions:
(1) The browser you use, did it come preinstalled on your device?No, the TraceFree Browser is downloaded from the service provider’s website. TraceFree Browser is a thin client app that basically connects your device to a server in the cloud. No browsing activity (cookies, browsing history or viruses) ever gets stored on your device.
(2) Is the browser you downloaded free to use? Because TraceFree does not monetize your personal information, TraceFree charges a subscription fee, so that it can pay for the resources you can use to browse with complete security and privacy.
(3) Can you download, upload or attach content from your device to a website or in an email? There is no possible way to download, upload or attach any content when using TraceFree. The browser runs in the cloud and your device NEVER touches a website. On the flip side of not being able to share content from your device, it also means it is impossible to download any bad viruses and websites cannot access it either.
(4) What happens when you visit your favorite sites? Visiting your favorite sites will require you to provide username and password. This may seem like a pain, BUT this is a very small price to pay for true privacy and security.
(5) Do you need to clear your cookies and cache? Each browsing session with TraceFree is with a brand new cookie free browser. All cookies that you collect while browsing are deleted on logout. You NEVER get cookies on your device, and never have to clear cookies when browsing.
(6) When a website asks you to enter an email address, or username, in a form, does your browser auto-fill it in for you? With TraceFree, the browser does not auto-fill it in for you. Remember, you always start your session with a brand new browser and it has no memory.
(7) When you visit your banking website, are you asked EVERY TIME to verify your identity with either a text message or confirmation email? When you use TraceFree, financial websites WILL NOT recognize the device you are using, and WILL ask you to confirm your identity with another method (text or email). While this may seem like a pain every time, it’s actually a very good thing. It means your device is not giving away or storing this information on your device. It demonstrates that you have true security and privacy.
(8) When you start typing in a web address does the browser auto-fill or auto-suggest the website? When you start typing in the address bar, there is no auto-fill of a web address and no suggestions. The TraceFree browser has no memory. This importantly means that NOBODY can tell what sites you visited.
(9) Can websites correctly identify your browser? When you use TraceFree, you are actually using a separate browser in the cloud on a virtual machine, not a browser on your device. If you visit www.whatismybrowser.org that site will identify TraceFree’s cloud browser, and not any browser on your device. Consequently, you are anonymous and secure on any site.
(10) With your current device, have you ever logged-into Google, Facebook or Amazon? One of the really neat things about using TraceFree is the ability to control the info you give to a website.
Of course, if you want to use Google Search within a TraceFree session with complete anonymity, you can! However, if you want to login to Google inside or outside a TraceFree session and thereby reveal your identity, you can do that also. Remember, with TraceFree you are ALWAYS anonymous on a site UNTIL you choose to be identified by logging in. At that point YOU chose to login, you thereby give away your identity to that site.
