Stop Spam in it's Tracts - 9 Tips to Protect Your Privacy and Cut Back on Unwanted Email

Firstly what is spam and where did it come from? Spam is simply put the "junk mail" that finds it's way into our email in-boxes everyday. If you have ever opened an email, read a blog or signed into a social networking site you have more than likely experienced spam.


Spam actually started back in 1978 when the first advertisement message was received on the ARPANET, which was designated for the department of defense, and is the origin of what the modern internet has become today.

Unless you decide to give up using the internet all together spam will inevitably find it's way into your life. The good news however is that by taking some steps to improve your privacy you can dramatically reduce the amount of spam you encounter as you make your way around the internet.

Now for the tips to improve privacy and reduce spam:

1. Always check privacy policies on websites and mailing lists - Trustworthy sites will have links to their privacy policy, be sure to click through and read them to ensure your information is safe with them.
2. Check the default options and check boxes - A lot of times when you sign up to recieve a newsletter or report there are additional options that are checked by default, and will enroll you into other email lists that you don't want to be a part of.
3. Consider getting a dummy email account - Consider signing up for a free email account with gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc, to ward off spam from your primary account. When signing up for newsletters or reports use the dummy account to ensure spam is filtered away from your main email account.
4. Never reply to spam emails - Responding will allow the recipient to verify your email address and will continue to send spam your to your account.
5. Disable graphic downloads - Some spammers will add things to images so they know when the email was open and read, to avoid this disable the automatic downloading of images through your email client.
6. Don't click links in spam emails - Clicking links in spam  emails can result in the sender getting your personal information and verify your email address. This will only tell the spammer that your email address is legitimate and active.
7. Avoid posting your email online - Spammers will use an email harvesting software that will scan websites for people entering their email address. If you need to post your email and fear it may be picked up by spammers consider posting it like this username-at-gmail-dot-com.
8. Monitor your online privacy settings - Always check your privacy settings on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Foursquare, Yelp, etc. These sites have default settings, most of which require some action on your part to protect your privacy.
9. Beware of Untrustworthy applications on social sites - A lot of applications that allow you to play games, take quizzes, etc on social sites are actually malicious programs that collect your personal information. 

Use the above 9 tips to further protect your privacy online and reduce the amount of spam you receive either in your email or social networking sites. If you found this post helpful feel free to click the Facebook like button or Share on Twitter and share this post with your friends. Stay up to date on our latest post by becoming a fan on Facebook.