Tech Experts Agree: The 3 Browser Settings You Need To Change Immediately To Protect Your Privacy

Your browser may be the LAST thing you consider when you’re trying to amp up the privacy settings on your phone or computer or and prolong the life of your battery. But that’s a major oversight, according to tech experts. Hackers can gain entry into your data via your browser and it’s just as important to enable and disable certain settings on your browser as it is to create difficult and unique passwords for your email accounts. Tech Expert Sohaib Hasan, the founder of MyTechIsSolved, explains which browser settings you need to change immediately to protect your privacy and boost battery power — and why making this a priority is crucial. 

Setting #1: Privacy Setting

One of the first steps you should take is changing your default search engine to a private one that does not track your activity, Hasan says. “This can be done by going into your account settings on Google or Yahoo and changing the search engine option from ‘Public’ to ‘Private,’” Hassan says. 

Setting #2: Disable Cookies

“Disable cookies completely unless you absolutely need them for some reason,” Hassan says. “Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer when you visit a website, and they contain information like what pages you have visited, which ads were clicked on, or even passwords relating to websites you have logged in with previously. By disabling cookies altogether, this protects against potentially sensitive information being tracked without your knowledge or consent.” 

Setting #3: Enable Two-Factor Authentication  

This is surely one tech recommendation you keep hearing, and for good reason. “Enable two-factor authentication whenever possible,” Hassan says. “This verifies login credentials using something other than just username and password–for example, an SMS code sent to your phone upon logging in (this feature is available via most major browsers).”

Why/how does changing privacy settings in a browser compromise battery power?

Browsers are designed to save battery power by using private browsing mode when you’re not connected to the internet, Hassan explains — something that is done by telling the browser to use less data and make fewer requests from websites.

“However, changing your privacy settings in a browser can actually override this process and cause more frequent visits to websites,” Hassan says. “This increase in website traffic has two effects: first, it uses additional energy because browsers need to request pages from the server multiple times; second, it creates demand for resources such as memory and CPU that could be used for other tasks.”

How do you avoid compromising your battery life while still enabling private browsing?

Hassan notes that the best way is to keep your privacy settings consistent across all of your devices — desktop PC, laptop computer, smartphone or tablet — so that private browsing remains enabled even when you’re online.

“You can also enable an extension like Privacy Badger which will monitor all of your web activity and report any suspicious activities back to their website owner for review,” Hassan says. 

The next time you are changing your website passwords to beef up security, remember: don’t sleep on your browser.