Survey Indicates Strongly Increased Online Privacy Tool Usage in the US

[Tataffe]

A survey conducted in the US indicates a remarkable increase in the usage of online privacy tools in the recent months. The survey was done by DuckDuckGo/spreadprivacy.com via SurveyMonkey's "Audience" Platform where sample groups representing the US population demographic were asked about their usage of "Do Not Track"-Settings in browsers, password managers, tracker blockers and VPNs in October 2016 and May 2017.

 

 

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Most people say they are concerned with online privacy, but do they care enough to actually take action? After polling American adults we found the number of people now taking action is large — mainstream large.

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Although the percentages vary according to technical complexity, each of the results shows a significant number of people proactively defending their right to privacy online. For example, one in five respondents try to block the ubiquitous trackers that follow us around the web. This is more notable when we remember that the surveys were aimed at random American adults rather than a purely technical audience.

Also worth noting is that roughly a third of those surveyed have turned on the “Do Not Track” setting in their web browsers. In other words, they are so concerned about privacy that they went looking through their browser settings, seeking out an option that might help them be tracked less. Unfortunately, since this browser setting is voluntary for websites to implement, it has limited effectiveness with companies such as Google and Facebook not respecting it.

 

I'm impressed both by the numbers themselves as well as the noteworthy increase thereof. For me personally, I'm using a password manager, tracker blocker and I also have no-tracking-options enabled in the browsers that I use. I'm not using a VPN though, mostly because of the cost. I assume that this is also the reason why VPNs have the lowest number of users among the tools that were studied in this survey.

 

Now I would really like to know what these numbers look like in other areas. I'd make the assumption that all of these have higher percentages here in Germany and many other parts of Europe.

 

Source

[Leonard]

This is happening all over as online users become more aware of what can happen and how much information is given out. i also enable Do not track but password managers are not safe as is the case in lastpass, i manage my own passwords and do versioning ever 6months. VPNs introduce too much lag and i don't know what is being collected by some unknown person/group of persons whom really does not answer to anything other than they offer this for x price.

[The Benjamins]

What is a good password manager besides plain text files on my desktop. :^)

[rn8686]

6 minutes ago, The Benjamins said:

What is a good password manager besides plain text files on my desktop. :^)

I use two, Lastpass which is online (For low security passwords) and Keypass offline (High security). 

[ChineseChef]

2 hours ago, The Benjamins said:

What is a good password manager besides plain text files on my desktop. :^)

Honestly, a text file with a name that isn't "all my passwords are here" likely wouldn't be that bad.  If it isn't something obvious, and you turn off file history, someone likely won't find it if they are specifically targeting you and know you have such a file.

[The Benjamins]

6 minutes ago, ChineseChef said:

Honestly, a text file with a name that isn't "all my passwords are here" likely wouldn't be that bad.  If it isn't something obvious, and you turn off file history, someone likely won't find it if they are specifically targeting you and know you have such a file.

I have most of my passwords on chrome, manged by password.google.com, but it is not the best password manager. I don't know how to add things if I didn't type it in chrome.

 

I keep my league of legends usernames in a text file but no passwords.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

4 hours ago, The Benjamins said:

What is a good password manager besides plain text files on my desktop. :^)

After the OneLogin debacle (and LastPass before it), I'd say the best password manager is no password manager  

 

I mean, even before these incidents, it really is putting all your eggs in the same basket, when you think about it...

[themctipers]

i thought do not track was always enabled.. well it is on everything i own.

 

i want to not use a password manager, but chrome and me being lazy ..  (ive got a really good way of remembering my passwords but im not telling you because my accounts are useful to me)

 

i guess blocking trackers is more advanced, i only have that on my phone, where i do 75% of my browsing off of youtube/ltt/googling shit

 

id use a VPN, but i dont have money.. 

[mach]

Why is using password manager a "privacy" measure? You are basically giving a piece of software the list of websites you browse and all the login credential. Yes I know they are encrypted and shit but I'd rather trust my brain. 

[Colonel_Gerdauf]

1 hour ago, mach said:

Why is using password manager a "privacy" measure? You are basically giving a piece of software the list of websites you browse and all the login credential. Yes I know they are encrypted and shit but I'd rather trust my brain. 

People can only remember so many unique and secure passwords. The amount of important and essential online services that we are signing up for can very quickly get overwhelming, and that is ignoring everything else. In regards to security and even privacy, the human mind is always the weakest link in the chain. That is why modern malware is increasingly using social engineering versus the more "traditional" methods, because it is a lot easier.

[mach]

4 minutes ago, Colonel_Gerdauf said:

People can only remember so many unique and secure passwords. The amount of important and essential online services that we are signing up for can very quickly get overwhelming, and that is ignoring everything else. In regards to security and even privacy, the human mind is always the weakest link in the chain. That is why modern malware is increasingly using social engineering versus the more "traditional" methods, because it is a lot easier.

I understand that it's a security practice. Perhaps a good one I don't know. I can remember 20+ digits nonsense number and alphabet combinations for my passwords. But I can't find a strong link between passwords and privacy. Using a third party software only increases the risk. I mean if your passwords were leaked you have bigger worries than your privacy. 

[Colonel_Gerdauf]

1 minute ago, mach said:

I understand that it's a security practice. Perhaps a good one I don't know. I can remember 20+ digits nonsense number and alphabet combinations for my passwords. But I can't find a strong link between passwords and privacy. Using a third party software only increases the risk. I mean if your passwords were leaked you have bigger worries than your privacy. 

That depends on the context of what type of password manager we are talking about. If you are talking about online ones such as Lastpass, then sure, your concern is somewhat valid. Remember though, the last time there was a "successful" breach and leak of Lastpass passwords and user data, it was only a bunch of hashed data; information that is completely useless to the hackers. What that tells me is that nobody working at Lastpass has any access to the stored passwords (end to end encryption), even if one tried to steal them. On the other hand, if you are talking about the offline variants such as KeePass, there are ways to keep the information to yourself. You can store the data in your PC and/or in an encrypted thumb drive. The only downside is that KeePass is not particularly easy to use with smartphones and tablets.

 

And again, the human mind is always the weakest link in storing confidential information, including passwords. Hackers have a much easier time tricking you to hand over the keys, than brute-forcing some way into the servers, or even stealing a piece of paper storing the passwords (the latter is still a really bad idea FTR).

[Doobeedoo]

Well people get more aware and makes sense, today companies will simply try to present you anything as you even need it, or that privacy is nonsense etc.

[DarkBlade2117]

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 4:49 PM, mach said:

I understand that it's a security practice. Perhaps a good one I don't know. I can remember 20+ digits nonsense number and alphabet combinations for my passwords. But I can't find a strong link between passwords and privacy. Using a third party software only increases the risk. I mean if your passwords were leaked you have bigger worries than your privacy. 

as much as I could with enough practice Id rather not have to remember a different password that contains random numbers, letters upper and lower case plus symbols. I'm talking 30+ sites

[ARikozuM]

On 6/9/2017 at 8:43 AM, The Benjamins said:

What is a good password manager besides plain text files on my desktop. :^)

Personally, I use Kaspersky Password Manager. You can create one complex password to remember, and let the built-in creator make passwords for your accounts. It's in an encrypted vault even on Android and iOS. Other good thing is that the mobile version includes a browser so that Google (or whatever browser) doesn't have to see the password.

[SansVarnic]

diy vpn works just as well. Get a Rasberry Pi and make one.