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Your Security : Is Your Web Browsing Really Safe? Essay

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Googling Your Security: Is Your Web Browsing Really Safe? Google is often thought of as just a search engine: a convenient tool that can be accessed at any time to search for information. The rise of the information era has dramatically shifted how we conduct our business and personal matters. Google’s success is a product of the growth of the World Wide Web and the Internet. The web was created in 1989 and has had unprecedented growth ever since. In 1993, there were approximately 130 websites and in 1997 there were 650,000. Today, there are over 1 million websites and 15 to 30 billion web pages (Conti 3). In the United States, about 97 million adults use the Internet at least once per day, and 38% use a search engine to find information (Foley 1). Out of popularity, Google has become the destination of choice for over 500 million unique visitors. The idea that search engines such as Google are collecting information is often not a primary thought that crosses an individual’s mind when they are browsing the web. The rise of “enhanced security” options when using Google (or when trying to avoid Google) may provide reassurance that the data is protected, but the reality is that the thin veneer of anonymity on the web is insufficient to protect individuals from revealing their identity. The value of our online data is unprecedented; as individuals browse the web, they leave behind a digital footprint. Google gathers information through several primary vectors: information

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