Is anything we do online private anymore? The rapid growth of the internet in the last two decades, which few could have foreseen, has led to an equally rapid development of exploitative tools that internet companies and other commercial entities and others can use to mine our personal information for profit. In the face of the Snowden leaks and the ensuing surveillance scandal, internet giants like Google, Apple and Facebook have been quick to condemn the NSA and GCHQ’s activities and have gone to great lengths to distance themselves from allegations of complicity. However, as the same companies have been accused of excessive and often illegal data-gathering for years, such denials should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt. 

 

Last week, a group of British internet users were granted court permission to proceed with a group action case against Google, claiming that tracked their online activity via Apple’s Safari browser, against their will and using tracking cookies in a manner that violated EU regulations. Google, which is registered in California, had attempted to sidestep the case by preventing it from being brought in the UK and also insist that the accusations are not serious enough for trial.  Could this show that Google is naïve about the extent of the public’s dissatisfaction with internet providers? 

 

Unfortunately, in cases like this one, corporate giants do hold most of the cards. Private citizens inevitably struggle to contend with the resources and expensive legal teams of big companies, so although lawsuits may slowly push back surveillance levels, they can’t be relied on as a sure-fire source of protection in the short term. 

 

If you are hoping to quickly and effectively guard your online activity from prying eyes, it’s best to look to the vibrant community of internet activists, who are pioneering technologically advanced methods of facilitating online privacy and confounding the public and private entities who want to keep tabs on internet users. The Tor Project, for example, has developed a piece of free online software that allows users to operate anonymously online. Tor redirects internet traffic through a huge volunteer network of more than 5,000 thousand relays, guaranteeing that the user’s identity and location remains confidential. It is believed that Edward Snowden used Tor software to send information about the PRISM programme to The Guardian and The Washington Post. 

 

Tor taps into the world of the ‘dark web’, which is unknown to most of us, but comprises a vast body of online data that is not indexed using established internet browsers and search engines. Unsurprisingly, elements of the media have expressed outrage and concern about the dark web, claiming that it is primarily used for criminal activity. The reality is that it’s a resource being explored by those who feel that the internet has been taken over by vested interests and that members of the public deserve another, more secure option. 

 

If you are concerned about online surveillance but lack the technological expertise to avoid being watched, we can offer digital consultancy services to provide you with avenues to anonymity. Our investigators can conduct a risk assessment to determine the extent to which your activities can be traced and the potential ramifications. Then, they can furnish you with a variety of recommendations on how to operate more discretely online, using resources like Tor software.  As well as implementing protective systems, our consultants can provide training to you or your employees in how to utilise resources like the dark web.

 

To answer our original question, very little of our activity on the mainstream web can be considered private anymore. But there are options out there that allow internet users to reclaim anonymity and security.