Without a doubt, internet privacy and internet security are big issues today, and the concern deepens knowing that millions are being added daily to the World Wide Web. In fact, all personal internet sites require a log-in with a classified password, and some even display a little lock to indicate that the user is logged into a secure site. But despite all the precautions, the risk factor remains and the internet privacy goes into a direct conflict with the end users. The question is, are there lapses with all the privacy and security measures placed within the sites, or is the user too casual to allow the bastion to be breached and then holler ‘foul’.

The internet today is not just about the personal keeping in touch, but has a huge bearing on the various portals that conduct B2B or B2C business, and is thereby rightly considered the engine of economic growth. In fact, online business transactions, including personal banking or bill payments, is growing in popularity with the people. Ask these people why use the internet and the prompt answer is convenience. Ask them about the allying fear and it is invariably the threat of privacy intrusion and security lapse.

The problem is to determine who actually creates either. Offhand, we can confidently state that a majority of the people do not even bother to read the ‘privacy policy’ of any site, and blindly click the ‘read’ just to move on to next step. In fact, the persons concerned about the privacy policy or the security threat will gladly pass on personal information on a free offer caption or on a consumer promo site. Some would gladly barter their email id and birth date even to a lottery or a sweepstakes vendor.

No doubts there are some who guard their privacy fiercely but then these are the ones who don’t scream either. The vociferous ones are in reality the apathetics, who do very little to safeguard their interest. Ask if these users would be willing to pay a little extra to safeguard their security and privacy fears, and their incredulous response will be ‘on the free-way’?

Technically, it’s the internet activists, who are concerned about privacy and security, and to get them they demand it from the one they do internet transactions, or just move on. They are the careful ones at all times irrespective of the site. In step contrast are the mainstream majority who may skip the minimal interest to safeguard themselves and demand that the government draft some ‘internet protection policy’.

In all honesty, even companies do care about consumer privacy and spend a lot to safeguard the interest in the hope of furthering their business bond. But when the majority consumer is not concerned, the companies too lose interest as it is a losing investment. If we have to view this whole angle of privacy and security with a positive and fair perspective, then we have to accept that the bigger onus lies with the user in using the safety features or avoiding sites that have no privacy policy. But it will not resolve any matter or make thing easier by merely drafting some regulations. There is every possibility they won’t be read either.

This is quite a contradictory question, almost a Catch-22. After all, we place all our personal information on the internet and then want to know whether it is safe. Most of us lead two lives, the reality and the virtual, and we tend to keep them as two distinct identities. But there are sites that require authentic data to process the official requirements, or you may as well be working in the paper, stapler and snail mail era.

So even if we wanted to avoid, we are compelled to place something authentic about ourselves in some official site, and not necessarily the various Social Sites. Now, if you have taken the trouble of demarcating Dr. Jekyll from Mr. Hyde even in the confines of the virtual world, where and how do they converge to take on a singular identity? Good question, but to understand it real deep, you need to be a techie or a geek. From a lay-mans point of view, which would be ours too, let us understand this in the simplified language of the complicated cyber world.

Let us know that the moment we create an email identity, and we log into the internet thorough our safe password within the confines of our home on the very personal computer, we are still not alone. No, we are not talking of the Twilight Zone; we are talking of something worse called Microsoft, Google and Yahoo. Between these three CCS or Cloud Computing Service providers, nothing much is really ‘hidden’, so the internet privacy does become a myth.

Presuming you have a yahoo email account, a gmail, or even a hotmail account. Know that any of these is controlled by one of the CCS, and somewhere down the line, there is an overlap that allows the exchange and filtration of data. For example, you can create any false identity on a social site, but Google knows your real name, when and for what you use the search engine, your mails and chats and from whom including their email id, access to friends and communities on Orkut, pictures stored in Picasa album, who you have been tracing via Geolocation.

Google knows every Blog, your birthday, your appointments through Alerts, your music preference through YouTube. These are just examples of some of the Google features in regular use, and there are many more. Similarly, Microsoft has features like Windows Mail, Messenger, Live Spaces, Live Searches, Windows Zune, Live Skydrive, Live Maps, Soapbox, and the list goes on. It’s too technical, but somewhere down the line, there is an info-share or just a trespass that does occur, and it becomes easy to segregate the chaff from the rice, surfacing the ‘hidden’ you.

But let us be realistic and ask ourselves, ‘why do we need to hide from ourselves?’ If we just be our transparent selves, we won’t need to worry much about our identity. Yes, keeping important and very personal data is another thing, but then no one advises you to place that on the internet. The privacy on the internet is a myth, but that myth is safe as long as you are within the limits of the law.

There are many internet browsers and each person has a favorite. However the most popular internet browser is Internet Explorer or IE. This comes pre-installed along with the Windows package on the computer.

Internet Explorer

IE is an excellent browser, but the problem one has always faced with IE is that it was vulnerable to hackers who used this as a platform to release nasty viruses and spyware. These days’ people are simply switching to others. The reason of course is that users want to surf the net, without the fear in their minds that their computer will not be hacked into

Firefox

The main competitor of Internet Explorer is Firefox. It is a much faster browser. It has always been the favorite of many who love tabbed browsing. It has many other features that are user friendly and not given with IE

The design is simple, the browsing is fast and it is safe. This internet browser blocks pop ups, and protects against viruses and other nasties that trawl the internet. Moreover Firefox does not get hijacked. Problems that arise are quickly solved as patches are released. Since it blocks spyware, your computer runs faster and smoother. Firefox, has other neat features like live bookmarks, automatic software updates, and you can even customize your browser.

The only downside is that certain web pages can not be opened since Firefox does not have ActiveX

Opera

Opera is one of the more popular browsers. It offers faster uploads, and so it is preferred by people who are still working on dial up connections. This makes browsing faster and smoother. Internet Explorer’s slow speed makes web surfing test the patience of a saint! Opera is sleek and comes with lots of features like tabbed browsing and a pop up blocker. You can choose whether you want to run Java applets or not. For faster browsing you can turn these off. It does disable certain JavaScript functions but it’s a small sacrifice for that valuable internet speed. If you want fast browsing, you must go with Opera. Now Opera is free and that is a big plus. Another thing is that it has never been breached, so you can feel safe. However opera may not be able to display certain web pages.

Google Chrome

Again this internet browser offers a huge improvement in speed and browsing. It has a huge screen and the tabs are arranged so as to save space. It comes with a pop up blocker, you can surf in an incognito mode. The time saving idea of showing snap shots of pages you visit whenever you open a new tab is great. It also has a integrated search bar. It is a winner in terms of speed and versatile too.

Safari

Safari comes with the Mac. It has tabbed browsing and a Google search box, and an automatic pop up blocker. It is sleek and fast.

These days the demand is for faster browsing experience and these alternative internet browsers offer a more satisfying browsing experience.