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Privacy

Nowadays massive data breaches, marketers tracking your every step online — the list of digital annoyances goes on and on. Keeping your privacy protected becoming crucial. Learn how the Kaspersky application protects your privacy online, so you can manage and control your digital footprint.

In this section

Safe Money

Privacy Protection

Stalkerware Detection

Data Leak Checker

Web Control

Secure connection to Wi-Fi networks

Protection for your passwords and sensitive information
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[Topic 226949]

Safe Money

Safe Money verifies the authenticity of known online payment systems and banking websites. The list of known online payment systems and banking websites is updated as a part of the application databases.

If you open a banking website whose certificate or web address is not trustworthy, the Kaspersky application will display a message in your browser that the website is not safe to visit. If you have the Kaspersky Protection extension installed, the Kaspersky application also displays notifications informing whether the website can be trusted or not.

Enable/disable Safe Money

  1. In the menu bar, click the application icon and choose Settings.

    The application settings window opens.

  2. On the Protection tab, in the Safe Money section, select/deselect the Enable Safe Money checkbox.

If you believe that some websites are not included in Safe Money protection or you want Safe Money protection on websites not included in the "payment systems and banking websites" category, you can add them to protection manually.

Add/remove a website of a bank, payment system, or online store to Safe Money protection manually

  1. In the menu bar, click the application icon and choose Settings.

    The application settings window opens.

  2. On the Protection tab, in the Safe Money section, click My Websites.

    A window opens, displaying a list of websites that have been manually added to Safe Money protection.

  3. Do one of the following:
    • To add a website to Safe Money protection, click and enter the web address.

      Note: You can add websites that use HTTPS for connections. The Kaspersky application scans encrypted connections (HTTPS) only if the Check secure connections (HTTPS) for <component names> checkbox in the General section on the Protection tab is selected.

    • To remove a website from Safe Money protection, select the web address in the list and click .
  4. Click Save.

Important: Safe Money notifications are only available for browsers that have the Kaspersky Protection extension installed.

If the Kaspersky application cannot verify a website certificate

If you get a notification about a certificate verification problem on a website, it means the website you want to open does not pass the authentication check. We recommend not to visit this website. For detailed information about this issue and possible causes of the certificate verification problem, see the Customer Service website (Knowledge Base).

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[Topic 85291]

Privacy Protection

Open the Privacy Protection window

On the sidebar of the main application window, click Privacy Protection.

Data Leak Checker

If you are not sure whether your accounts on certain websites are safe, you can check them using the Kaspersky application. The application can detect if your accounts have been compromised and your data is in danger of being publicly accessible.

Check if your account has been compromised

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Data Leak Checker.

    The Data Leak Checker window opens.

  2. Enter your email address in the Enter email address field.
  3. Click Check.

Webcam protection

The Kaspersky application protects your privacy while your Mac is running. You can block your webcam to prevent applications from using it. When you enable this feature, the application blocks access to system libraries that are used by the webcam. You can find examples of applications that cannot access your webcam when it is blocked by the Kaspersky application and the list of supported web cameras on the Customer Service website (Knowledge Base).

Note: The access will be blocked for all applications installed on your computer. You cannot block access to your webcam for specific applications.

Block the webcam

  1. Open the Home page of the main application window.
  2. Enable Block Webcam.

The Kaspersky application blocks your webcam.

Note: You can also block your webcam by enabling Webcam Protection in the Privacy Protection window or choosing Block webcam in the Webcam section on the Privacy tab of the application settings window.

Stop blocking the webcam

  1. Open the Home page of the main application window.
  2. Disable Block Webcam.

The Kaspersky application stops blocking your webcam.

Note: You can also unblock your webcam by disabling Webcam Protection in the Privacy Protection window or choosing Allow webcam in the Webcam section on the Privacy tab of the application settings window.

Note: If the application that you want to block is running when you block the webcam, you need to restart this application.

Private Browsing

For enhanced protection of your privacy, the Kaspersky application includes Private Browsing, a feature that blocks websites from tracking you. You can also select categories of websites on which you want to block tracking.

Note: The application scans encrypted connections (HTTPS) only if the Check secure connections (HTTPS) for <component names> checkbox in the General section on the Protection tab is selected.

Block website tracking

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Privacy Protection.

    The Privacy Protection window opens.

  2. Enable Private Browsing.

The Kaspersky application starts blocking websites from tracking your browsing activities.

Note: You can also block website tracking by selecting the Block website tracking checkbox in the Private Browsing section on the Privacy tab of the application settings window.

Stop blocking website tracking

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Privacy Protection.

    The Privacy Protection window opens.

  2. Disable Private Browsing.

The Kaspersky application stops blocking websites from tracking your browsing activities.

Select categories of websites on which you want to block tracking

  1. In the menu bar, click the application icon and choose Settings.

    The application settings window opens.

  2. On the Privacy tab, in the Private Browsing section, in the list below the Block website tracking checkbox, select the checkboxes next to categories of websites on which you want to block tracking activities.

When website tracking is blocked, the Kaspersky application blocks tracking activities on websites that belong to the selected categories and monitors tracking activities on websites that belong to the unselected categories. When website tracking is allowed, the application only monitors websites that belong both to selected and unselected categories.

You can add websites to a list of exclusions. When website tracking is blocked, the Kaspersky application doesn't block tracking activities on websites that are in the list of exclusions.

Add/remove a website to/from the list of exclusions

  1. In the menu bar, click the application icon and choose Settings.

    The application settings window opens.

  2. On the Privacy tab, in the Private Browsing section, click Exclusions.

    A window with the list of exclusions opens.

  3. Edit the list of exclusions:
    • To add a website to the list of exclusions:
      1. Click .
      2. Enter the web address of the website that you want to add to the list of exclusions.
    • To remove a website from the list of exclusions:
      1. Select a web address that you want to remove.
      2. Click .
  4. Click Save.

By default, the Kaspersky application doesn't block tracking activities on the websites of Kaspersky and its partners. You can manually enable blocking of tracking activities on the websites of Kaspersky and its partners.

Enable blocking of the websites of Kaspersky and its partners

  1. In the menu bar, click the application icon and choose Settings.

    The application settings window opens.

  2. On the Privacy tab, in the Private Browsing section, click More.

    A window with the list of websites of Kaspersky and its partners opens.

  3. At the top of the window, deselect the Don’t block tracking on websites of Kaspersky and its partners checkbox.

Some websites are known to be incompatible with the Private Browsing feature. By default, the Kaspersky application doesn't block tracking activities on such websites. You can manually enable blocking of tracking activities on websites known to be incompatible with the Private Browsing feature.

Enable blocking on websites known to be incompatible with Private Browsing

  1. In the menu bar, click the application icon and choose Settings.

    The application settings window opens.

  2. On the Privacy tab, in the Private Browsing section, click More.

    A window with the list of websites known to be incompatible with the Private Browsing feature opens.

  3. In the middle of the window, deselect the Don’t block tracking on websites known to be incompatible with this feature checkbox.

Stalkerware Detection

To ensure more reliable protection for your computer, you can extend the list of detectable objects by enabling the application to check for stalkerware and other legitimate software that can be used by intruders to damage your computer or personal data. To learn more about different types of stalkerware, see Stalkerware Detection.

Select the categories of objects to detect

  1. In the menu bar, click the application icon and choose Settings.

    The application settings window opens.

  2. On the Threats tab, in the Categories of objects to detect section, select the checkboxes next to the categories of objects to detect.

    Note: The Kaspersky application always protects your computer against viruses, worms, Trojans, malicious tools, adware, and auto-dialers. Accordingly, it is not possible to deselect the checkbox for this category.

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[Topic 112161]

Stalkerware Detection

Some legitimate applications can be used by criminals to steal your personal data and spy on you. Most of these applications are useful, and many people benefit from using them. These applications include IRC clients, autodialers, file downloaders, system activity monitors, password management utilities, FTP, HTTP, or Telnet servers.

However, if criminals get access to these apps on your computer or manage to covertly deploy them there, they will be able to use some of the functionality to steal your personal data or commit other illegal actions.

You can read about different types of stalkerware below.

Types of stalkerware

Type

Name

Description

Client-IRC

IRC clients

People install these apps to communicate with each other in Internet Relay Chats (IRC). Criminals can use these apps to spread malware.

Dialer

Autodialers

Can covertly establish phone connections over a modem.

Downloader

Downloaders

Can covertly download files from web pages.

Monitor

Monitor apps

Allow monitoring the activity of the computer on which they are installed (tracking which applications are running and how they are exchanging data with apps on other computers).

PSWTool

Password recovery tools

Enable users to see and recover forgotten passwords. Criminals secretly deploy these apps on people's computers for the same purpose.

RemoteAdmin

Remote administration tools

Widely used by system administrators to get access to remote computers' interfaces to monitor and control them. Criminals covertly deploy these apps on people's computers for the same purpose, to spy on remote computers and control them.

Legitimate remote administration tools are different from backdoors (remote control Trojans). Backdoors can infiltrate a system and install themselves there on their own, without the user's permission, whereas legitimate apps do not have this functionality.

Server-FTP

FTP servers

Operate as FTP servers. Criminals can deploy them on your computer to open remote access to it using the FTP protocol.

Server-Proxy

Proxy servers

Operate as proxy servers. Criminals deploy them on a computer to use it for sending out spam.

Server-Telnet

Telnet servers

Operate as Telnet servers. Criminals deploy them on a computer to open remote access to it using the Telnet protocol.

Server-Web

Web servers

Operate as web servers. Criminals can deploy them on your computer to open remote access to it using the HTTP protocol.

RiskTool

Local tools

They give users additional capabilities for managing their computers (enabling them to hide files or active application windows, or to close active processes).

NetTool

Network tools

They give the users of computers on which they are installed additional capabilities for interacting with other computers on the network (restart remote computers, find open ports, launch applications installed on those computers).

Client-P2P

P2P network clients

Enable people to use P2P (Peer-to-Peer) networks. They can be used by criminals to spread malware.

Client-SMTP

SMTP clients

Can covertly send emails. Criminals deploy them on a computer to use it for sending out spam.

WebToolbar

Web toolbars

Add search engine toolbars to the interface of other apps.

FraudTool

Fraudware

Imitates other applications. For example, there is anti-virus fraudware which displays notifications of discovering malware on a computer, whereas they actually neither find nor clean or fix anything.

If stalkerware protection is enabled, we will warn you of any attempts to access your location data, your messages, or other personal data.

You can enable stalkerware protection on the Threats tab of the application settings window by selecting the Stalkerware and software that can be used by intruders to damage your computer or personal data check box in the Categories of objects to detect section.

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[Topic 240276]

Data Leak Checker

If you are not sure whether your accounts on certain websites are safe, you can check them using the Kaspersky application. The application can detect if your accounts have been compromised and your data is in danger of being publicly accessible.

Note: The Kaspersky application can only check accounts that use an email address as the user name. When Data Leak Checker is used, Kaspersky does not receive data in an openly-accessible format, and does not store it. The data is only used for scanning. On detecting a leak, the application does not gain access to the user data itself, but only provides information about categories of data that may be publicly accessible.

By default, the Kaspersky application tries to check your user accounts when you are authorized on a particular website.

If the check discovers that your data may have become public, the application will notify you and display the following information:

  • A list of websites from which a data leak could have occurred.
  • The date of the possible leak.
  • The category of data that may be publicly accessible.

You can learn how to minimize the consequences of a possible data leak by clicking the corresponding data category.

Check if your account has been compromised

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Data Leak Checker.

    The Data Leak Checker window opens.

  2. Enter your email address in the Enter email address field.
  3. Click Check.

In Kaspersky Plus and Premium, the application can check your email address each time you sign in to your account on websites.

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[Topic 241861]

Web Control

Web Control helps you monitor and manage access to websites that users visit. You can set up Web Control settings for all user accounts on the computer.

Important: Web Control is only available if you have activated the application with a Kaspersky Small Office Security activation code. If you change the activation code, Web Control will be replaced by Parental Control (China). Parental Control has the same functionality as Web Control.

You can block access to specific websites or selected categories of websites.

Note: The Kaspersky application can only block access to websites that use HTTPS for connections. The application scans encrypted connections (HTTPS) only if the Check secure connections (HTTPS) for <component names> checkbox in the General section on the Protection tab is selected.

Block access to specific websites

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Web Control.

    The Web Control window opens.

  2. In the left pane of the window, select a computer user account for which you want to configure access to websites.
  3. In the upper-right corner of the window, turn on Web Control.
  4. Click Exclusions.

    The Exclusions window opens.

  5. Select the Always block these websites checkbox.
    • To add a website to this list, click and enter its web address.
    • To remove a website from this list, select its web address and click .
    • To modify a web address added to this list, double-click the web address.
  6. Click Close to close the Exclusions window. Your changes will be saved automatically.

Block access to selected website categories

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Web Control.

    The Web Control window opens.

  2. In the left pane of the window, select a computer user account for which you want to configure access to websites.
  3. In the upper-right corner of the window, turn on Web Control.
  4. Select checkboxes next to the names of the website categories to which you want to block access.

Important: If you have installed the application version intended for use in the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, or Brazil, you will have to accept the Statement regarding data processing for Web Control before you can enable Web Control. The statement is displayed when you attempt to enable Web Control for the first user account on your Mac.

If necessary, you can add websites to the list of exclusions. Web Control doesn't block websites added to the list of exclusions even if they belong to restricted categories.

Edit the list of exclusions

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Web Control.

    The Web Control window opens.

  2. In the left pane of the window, select a computer user account for which you want to configure access to websites.
  3. In the upper-right corner of the window, turn on Web Control.
  4. Click Exclusions.

    The Exclusions window opens.

  5. Select the Never block these websites checkbox.
    • To add a website to this list, click and enter its web address.
    • To remove a website from this list, select its web address and click .
    • To modify a web address added to this list, double-click the web address.
  6. Click Close to close the Exclusions window. Your changes will be saved automatically.

You can copy the Web Control settings of a computer user account and paste them to another computer user account.

Copy and paste Web Control settings

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Web Control.

    The Web Control window opens.

  2. In the left pane of the window, select the computer user account from which you want to copy settings.
  3. In the lower-left corner of the window, click .
  4. In the pop-up menu, choose Copy Settings.
  5. In the left pane of the window, select a computer user account to which you want to paste settings.
  6. In the lower-left corner of the window, click .
  7. In the pop-up menu, choose Paste Settings.
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[Topic 182825]

Secure connection to Wi-Fi networks

Public Wi-Fi networks may be under-protected, for example, if a Wi-Fi network uses a vulnerable encryption protocol. When you connect to a Wi-Fi network, the Kaspersky application checks the network. If the Wi-Fi network is insecure, the application prompts you to install or run Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection.

Note: Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection is available in Kaspersky Plus and Premium only.

Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection provides the following advantages:

  • Safe use of payment systems and booking sites. Intruders will not be able to intercept your bank card number when you make online payments, book hotel rooms, or rent cars.
  • Protection of your secret information. No one will be able to determine your computer's IP address or your location.
  • Protection of your privacy. No one will be able to intercept and read your private correspondence on social networks.

Important: In some regions, use of Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection may be regulated by local legislation. You may use Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection only in accordance with its purpose and without violating local legislation.

Enable/disable notification about unsecured Wi-Fi networks

  1. In the menu bar, click the application icon and choose Settings.

    The application settings window opens.

  2. On the Privacy tab, in the Unsecured Wi‑Fi section, select/deselect the Notify about unsecured Wi‑Fi networks checkbox.

Install Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Privacy Protection.

    The Privacy Protection window opens.

  2. In the Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection section, click Install.

    The App Store opens.

  3. Click Get and then Install App.
  4. Sign in to App Store to download the application.
  5. When the download is complete, click Open.
  6. Follow the instructions to start Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection for the first time. For detailed information, see Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection Help.

If you want to ensure the privacy of your home Wi-Fi network and all connected devices, you can set up a secure VPN connection on your router.

Set up a secure VPN connection on your router

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Smart Home Monitor.

    The Smart Home Monitor window opens.

  2. Select your router in the list.
  3. In the right part of the window, click Set Up.

    My Kaspersky opens.

  4. Click Add new configuration and follow the instructions. For more details, see the My Kaspersky Help.
  5. For instructions on configuring a secure VPN connection in your router's settings, refer to your router's documentation.

If the Kaspersky application warns you that your Wi-Fi connection is unsecured

It means that you have connected to an unprotected Wi-Fi network and your logins, passwords, messages, and other sensitive information can be intercepted. We recommend not to use this network.

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[Topic 120261]

Protection for your passwords and sensitive information

Kaspersky Password Manager protects all your passwords and other sensitive information (for example, passport details, and financial or medical records) with a single main password. You can install Kaspersky Password Manager on desktop computers, laptops, and mobile devices running Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, or iOS to keep all your data safe and in sync.

Note: Kaspersky Password Manager is available in Kaspersky Plus and Premium only.

Kaspersky Password Manager:

  • Keeps your passwords and other important information at your fingertips.
  • Fills out online forms automatically.
  • Protects your sensitive information.
  • Imports passwords from third-party password managers.
  • Checks password security.
  • Generates strong passwords.
  • Syncs data across multiple devices.

You can manage your data either from the application interface or on My Kaspersky.

Important: In some regions, use of Kaspersky Password Manager may be regulated by local legislation. You may use Kaspersky Password Manager only in accordance with its purpose and without violating local legislation.

Install Kaspersky Password Manager

  1. On the sidebar of the main application window, click Privacy Protection.

    The Privacy Protection window opens.

  2. In the Kaspersky Password Manager section, click Install.

    The App Store opens.

  3. Click Get and then Install App.
  4. Sign in to App Store to download the application.
  5. When the download is complete, click Open.
  6. Follow the instructions to start Kaspersky Password Manager for the first time. For detailed information, see Kaspersky Password Manager Help.
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[Topic 173530]