Anyone who works online, or spends a lot of their free time browsing the web, will probably tell you that Google Chrome is their favorite web browser. From technophiles and digital marketers to bloggers and social media personas, avid internet users tend to agree that Chrome is easily the most simple and secure browser in all of webdom.
Why?
Chrome is designed with security and speed in mind. While using safe browsing mode, you are shown a warning screen if you encounter a website suspected of containing phishing or malware as you browse the web. It also uses a technology called “sandboxing” to give you an added layer of security and protection online.
Chrome offers a full library of extensions for guarding your personal info, so we put together our top 8 Chrome extensions that protect you while you browse the web.
1 Ghostery
Ghostery is a free extension for chrome that makes secure browsing safe and simple. It detects and blocks tracking technologies like “cookies” and other advertising software from collecting your IP address and targeting you with spam ads. This allows the extension to keep pages uncluttered and free of ads, if that’s what you choose.
It also helps protect your anonymity online, meaning you won’t be targeted with advertisements for visiting the page since you can turn the tracker offl. Additionally, it keeps you informed on who is tracking you, and how. Furthermore, it provides warnings when sites use slow or unsecure software.
Ghostery is continuously innovating and evolving to provide the most effective resource for protection against invasive software. Ghostery is constantly adapting and changing to provide you with the safest browsing experience on your terms.
2 Joinesty
Have you ever had to reset a password? Do you constantly hate seeing your inbox ping with promotional crap that has no relevance to your needs 70% of the time? If these sound like you, it’s probably time to look into Joinesty.
Joinesty is a service that uses National Security Agency & Bank grade encryption, as well as unique pin-codes to protect your identity online.
Joinesty lets you create manageable temporary email accounts for your log ins and stores the passwords for you. These accounts can also be suspended or terminated at any time. That means you can use Joinesty emails for your profiles, and never have to worry about losing that password again.
Joinesty also consolidates the promotions and updates from those profiles and sends them to you either in one lumpsum email or at the site’s normal rate, depending on your settings for the account.
As an added bonus, Joinesty double checks your purchases and finds better deals and coupons for your items. So if you shop online, you can think of Joinesty as an automated coupon.
3 HTTPS Everywhere
HTTPS Everywhere is a great add on for Chrome that will protect your privacy online while you visit almost any site! It uses advanced routing protocols to force non secure sites to operate in the updated HTTPS.
According to it’s description on the chrome store “HTTPS Everywhere is an extension created by EFF and the Tor Project which automatically switches thousands of sites from insecure “http” to secure “https”. It will protect you against many forms of surveillance and account hijacking, and some forms of censorship.”
4 Ad Blocker
AdBlocker is the most popular Chrome extension, hands down. With more than 40 million current unique user accounts, and an ever increasing number of people downloading everyday,
AdBlocker is the leader in ad blocking software with over 200 million downloads. It also blocks ads across the web on sites like YouTube, Facebook and just about any other site.
The original AdBlock for Chrome works automatically, but also allows you to choose which ads to block It also lets you whitelist your favorite sites, or block all ads by default. Just click “Add to Chrome,” then visit your favorite website and see the ads vanish.
5 DotVPN
Dot VPN, according to google was “Founded in 2014…is the fastest growing VPN service in the world with more than 10 million downloads in more than 160 countries.” They’ve no doubt worked tirelessly to create a great virtual privacy network, free to use with full functionality that provides you with access to all the resources in an extension.
“It’s a powerful and fast VPN service with a beautiful, easy-to-use interface. You can simple turn it on and unblock the whole Internet via WI-FI hotspot or cellular network. Protect your device connection and encrypt all traffic in 4096 bit key. We change your IP address to protect your identity.”
6 Privacy Cleaner
MyPermissions is a totally free and powerful scanning tool that allows you to track and control how applications access your personal information. It will also allow you to see what apps you’ve connected to social media , who is accessing accessing what data – and approve, remove or report them.
According to Google, Privacy cleaner will allow you to.. “Protect Your Personal Information – Get Real time alerts when apps access your information and files” and has been featured on MSNBC, Wired, Mashable, USA Today, and many other media goliaths.
7 PHP Console
This extension for Chrome is a must for all software developers and web builders. It allows you to Display PHP errors & vars dumps in the Google Chrome console and execute PHP code remotely.
Simply put, PHP Console will allow you to be securely logged into your server backend and make modifications in real-time. This is a game changer for anyone who writes code.
Conclusion
Chrome offers a full library of extensions that will protect your privacy and sensitive information while you browse the web.
What are your favorite extensions for chrome? Let us know in the comments below!