How to protect your data and personal information - ten tips.

I was interested to read the latest issue of Computing Which? recently which took a look at internet search engines and the information they keep.

The thrust of the article was about how to protect your own information from use or exploitation by third parties.

This doesn't just amount to keeping secret passwords and so on - but also, for some people, it is important that their habits aren't used by third parties for personal gain.

Some people don't want to be recognised when they log onto the net, and have 'targeted' advertising thrust at them as a result.

One thing which was surprising was how much information the search engines keep.

Google, for example allows third parties to see which ads people clicked on. Yahoo and msn go slightly further to allow advertisers to track ads you click on across various sites.

All keep a record of searches undertaken, with most allowing law enforcement officials access as necessary.

I don't suppose I personally have a major problem with any of the above, although keeping the search data would allow third parties to see exactly who you are, if for example they can utilise usernames you use on sites, search for your own name and so on.

So if the information gets leaked or into the wrong hands, then your bank accounts etc could be at risk.

Which? also posted a list of ten top tips to protect your information which I'll boil down here:

1: Delete cookies regularly from your browser.

2: If you have an account with google mail, yahoo mail or hotmail don't do searches while logged in to these accounts. Results will be directly linked to your account. Also don't search using your isp's home page - AOL released the data from 650,000 users in 2006 for a research project which was leaked, each used was identified by a number and the searches could be used to find out who they were.

3: Make sure any social networking sites you use have the privacy settings turned on.

4: Don't enter information such as your National Insurance number of mother's maiden name into searches.

5: Consider using anonymising software eg www.anonymiser.com

6: Don't use the same username for every website.

7: Never post phone numbers or email addresses in forums.

8: Check if you've got a static IP address.

9: Always read a site's privacy policy to find out what happens to the data.

10: For more information visit the information commissioner's office at www.ico.gov.uk