Since the Covid-19 Pandemic began, the world has been changed. Whether you are a student, a businessman, or a worker, every person has gone through a change in their daily life routine. The world seems to be more virtual now as people are doing everything online from their homes.
Students are one of the communities that have faced a massive change in their studies. Before Covid-19 Pandemic, students were bound to take physical classes at schools, colleges, and universities. However, now the institutions encourage and force students to stay home and take virtual/online courses. If you are a student and do most of your work online, this article is for you. People will get answers to questions like, “how to protect your privacy online?”

What are the Benefits and Drawbacks of Online Study?

As the teachers are taking online classes via Zoom often, there are many benefits and drawbacks of online studies. Let’s discuss some of the pros and cons briefly.

Benefits:

• Students can learn using multiple resources like PDFs, videos, text, podcasts, etc.
• Institutions offering distance learning programs are much affordable.
• There is no restriction of location and sometimes time if the class is not live.
• It is noticed that students who take online classes have more attendance percentage than others.
• There is no formal dress code. People can take classes while sitting on a couch.

Drawbacks:

• Some people can’t focus on the screen when using it for a long period of time. So, we can say the first issue is a lack of focus.
• Lack of awareness about software usage. This issue can be faced by both teacher and student if they are not used to using software and technology.
• People can’t enjoy the company of their friends, which can make their study experience boring.
• Special teachers training is required as online studies demand a different teaching method compared to in-person classes. They also need training about the software and how to use it properly.
• Taking online classes can be harmful to health, especially for the eyes, as people need to take regular classes for hours.

As we discussed the pros and cons, there are some guidelines and tips for students that they should keep in mind while taking online classes or browsing over the internet. These tips will help them to keep their privacy while taking online sessions.

How do you protect your privacy as a student?

Students often have a question in their mind, “How can I protect my personal information during online sessions?” Let’s answer this question now.
There are many ways users can protect their privacy. Some of them are the following:

Get Awareness:

Both parents and students must get aware of privacy. Primarily, it is the pure responsibility of parents to talk to their children about privacy if they are learning online. This awareness is not only limited to studies but also useful while browsing over the internet. Lack of awareness may get people and their children in some difficult situations.

Use Webcam Carefully:

It is imperative to use a webcam carefully while taking virtual classes. Users should use their webcam only when it is required and asked by their instructor. It is recommended, especially when they are using an online tool. Because, at that moment, their IP address can be exposed, and hackers can hack and access their webcam control. To avoid such a situation, people need to have VPN software for PC. We’ll discuss it more shortly.

Download Tools/Software Carefully:

Users need to download different tools or software for the study or any other purpose. Some of them are free while others are paid. Therefore, it is essential to download only recognized and well-known tools. Otherwise, they may end up installing malware on their device. It is also vital not to download any cracked software.
The reason is hackers can provide users cracks of a paid software, so when they download it, they are giving access to their personal information to hackers themselves. In addition, the cracked software may have files that spy on people and steal data secretly. So, they never know something terrible is happening until the damage is done.

Use VPN:

It is essential to download VPN software for PC. Therefore, we recommend users download VeePN. People can download VeePN with any browser, device, and OS. For example, Users can use the VeePN VPN app for Windows 10, IOS, Android, Google Chrome, Firefox, etc. The reason for using a VPN is to make your online presence secure. Without VPN, your location, IP address can be exposed, and ISPs, Government, and hackers can spy on you.

To prevent this, VPN is used as they hide people’s personal information and give them a temporary location and IP address. So, no one can trace your activity. Therefore, it is important to use only secure and encrypted VPN like VeePN.

Use Strong Passwords:

Users may need to create an account and give their personal information on different websites as a student. Here are some things you need to check first about the site:

• Is the website Secure? Check the SSL.
• Is there anything suspicious? Check if they are demanding some extra information that is really not needed.
• Is the website well-known?

Once people get answers to these questions, then they should process to creating an account. Don’t set a password after your phone number, pet name, etc. Instead, it is recommended to use a combination of letters, numbers, special characters, and symbols.

Conclusion:

The world has become more virtual since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Students now need to take virtual classes, which have some pros and cons. However, the most important thing that people need to understand is their online privacy.
While you are taking class, making a transaction, or just browsing over the internet, it is crucial to make your location and IP address hidden by using VPN. So, you can save yourself from hackers’ attacks.