A recent report from Private.ai found that more than 70% of the websites we visit share our personal data without our consent. Now more than ever, privacy is at stake. Hundreds and thousands of businesses thrive thanks to our navigation data. Tastes, political affinities… everything is allowed to find an advertisement that convinces us and, ultimately, we buy. To some extent, it’s understandable that apps, websites, and services need advertising to survive. In fact, for Netflix, it was “its salvation”. But are we giving up too much?
The Alarming Report About Our Web Privacy
This analysis focused on the hundred most visited sites in the United States and Europe. With them, compliance with the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was assessed. The results are worrying: around 75% of these sites do not respect confidentiality rules. Most violations are due to sharing data with advertisers without consent
And the worst part is that it is not a simple technical detail. User privacy should be a fundamental pillar of any digital interaction. However, the reality is that our data circulates uncontrollably. And even if we want to put barriers, the websites ignore them.
2.1 billion dollars in fines and rising
The report also highlights an increase in fines for privacy violations. In Europe, sanctions increased from 77.5 million dollars in 2019 to 2.1 billion in 2023. In the United States, the situation is no better; Fines were almost non-existent in 2022, but there is now at least one every month.
How to protect your privacy with Safari?
Safari is Apple’s web browser, and the good news is that you can take steps to protect your information with its technologies. The Safari Privacy Report is a feature that allows us to clearly see how Safari blocked different trackers from accessing to our data. Additionally, Apple has more advanced tools, such as iCloud Private Relay, which works like a VPN for an extra layer of security on the web.
Enable Privacy Reports on iPhone
- Go to Settings > Apps > Safari > Enable Cross-Site Tracking Prevention.
- Next, go to Advanced > Advanced Tracking & Fingerprint Protection > All Navigation
When browsing in Safari, click on the search bar then on the icon on the left in the shape of a square and two lines. Now click on the three dots (…) and you will be able to see the privacy report with some very interesting data.
Enable Privacy Reports on Mac
- Open Safari, and in the menu bar, tap Safari > Settings again.
- On the Privacy tab, enable Prevent tracking and Hide IP address.
Again, when browsing, go to Menu Bar > Safari and you can view the privacy report with all trackers. The reality is that online privacy is a complicated balance between respect for our data and the right of media and applications to make a living from it. Tools like Safari give us at least some control over what we share and will help us make decisions based on information about our personal footprint on the Internet.
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