survey conducted by Nielsen, 72 percent. of consumersprefer to shop online via their mobile device or computer versus shoppinginstores. It’s clear why shopping online is the preferred method, as it saves time and eliminates stress. However, whenit comesto safety, only one-third of respondents from Nielsen’s survey felt online shop- ping was the safest way to purchase items. With the holiday season upon us, millions of consumerswill turn to the Web for their gift purchases. But how can shoppers stay safe and protect themselves from eredit card and identity theft or You and your family can stay organized (and never forget a gift) with your holiday shopping by using a site that lets you send bookmarked websites and products from your mobile phone to compromised passwords? To start, your home computer. make sure you download a secure browser on your computers, *Keep your information tablets and phones. For example, private: Most Web browsers,like when you download a Web Firefox, offer a “Do Not Track” browser from the nonprofit orga- feature that lets you say you don't nization Mozilla Firefox, you'll be alerted when accessingpotentially fraudulent sites and have access to tools that will help with everything from keeping your gift ideas safe from that special someone to having your holidaylists, recipes and directions readily available while on the go. Holiday shopping should be fun and feel safe, so here are a few additional tips from Mozilla Fire- fox to have the best online shopping experience: *Buy from trustworthy online stores: Look for seals of approval given by third-party organizations such as TRUSTe or Better Business Bureau Online— if you're not familiar with the site, you may want to reconsider pur- chasing from them. eKeep your Web browser updated: Make sure any software you download to your desktop or your mobile device—including apps and add-ons—stays up-todate. You can easily check for updates in the menu options of most software. *Look for the “S” for secu- rity: Never purchase anything from a site that doesn't have SSL encryption. Make sure the site’s address starts with https:// instead of http://, and don’t provide your credit card information via e-mail. want to have your information tracked by websites. First introduced by Firefox, this feature will tell advertising networks, other websites and applications that you opt out of tracking for purposeslikeadvertising. *Secure your passwords: Using a variety of upper- and lowercaseletters, numbers and punctuation, create a unique password for each accountyou log into. If you are worried aboutforgettingit, you can easily and safely store your usernames and passwords with the Firefox Password Manager. Once you've protected your Webexperience, it's time to shop! Looking to share wish lists with friends and family? Want to chat with a friend about holiday party plans while shopping online? Firefox is the only browserto integrate social sharingwith sites like Facebook. You can also stay organized (and never forget a gift) with your holiday shopping by using Firefox Syne, which lets you take bookmarked websites and products from your mobile phone to your home computer. ‘Now that you're equipped with the tools and knowledge needed to have a safe and productive Web experience, you can have fun purchasinggifts and hunting for bargainsthis holiday season andall year round. Happy shopping!
