A number of technologies are available to consumers who wish to safeguard their online information and activities.

Encryption

Encryption scrambles email messages or data files, making them gibberish to anyone other than the intended recipient. Secure, encrypted transfers are particularly important when sending sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and other financial information, over the Internet. Users can determine whether an Internet site is secure in two ways. Protected Web sites will usually indicate that transfers are encrypted; and the user's browser will display a symbol - often a small padlock icon - in the lower left or right hand corner of the page, to confirm the site's security. Many encryption programs exist, and quite a number can be downloaded free from the Internet.

Cookie deflectors

Cookie deflectors make the file where a browser stores its cookies unreadable. Once the file-locking method has been set, the browser will skip over any attempt to set a cookie; and it will erase its cache of stored cookies the next time the user quits and restarts the browser.

Private email

Hotmail, Yahoo! and other Web-based email services protect their users' identity. An email address need not include a person's name, and it also becomes the log-in code. Users may reach their email from any computer with access to the Internet, just by entering a password. But although these email programs are "free," their services have a price: when users sign up, personal information is solicited from them.

Some services have privacy policies that promise not to reveal information to third parties; but most such services pay for the "free" email they offer by selling the information. One result of this is that users can often get flooded with "spam," or unsolicited commercial email. (This can be reduced if users unclick the registration-form box indicating a wish to receive promotional material.)

Re-mailers

Anonymous re-mailers act as intermediaries for messages, erasing the return address information coded into every email message. They also remove the electronic logbook of an email's checkpoints along its digital journey - its hops from one server to another on its way to its destination. There are two kinds of re-mailers: pseudo-anonymous re-mailers, and true anonymous re-mailers. Pseudo-anonymous re-mailers allow users to keep their real names, instead of replacing them with code names.

Filtering software

Outgoing filtering software prevents email users from sharing specific information. For example, it can be installed to prevent children from sending their name, address or telephone number over the Internet. Once this information has been programmed into the software, it will appear only as "xxx" anytime the information is entered online on that computer.

Secure sites

It is possible to easily find out if a Web site is secure: a tiny security icon in the shape of a key or a padlock will appear in the bottom left or right corner of the Web browser. When a user clicks on the icon, a window appears to indicate whether the site is safe for submitting information.