A number of trackers track your online activities across the web, so they aren’t as private as you might think. Internet service providers (ISPs), browsers, search engines, social media platforms, as well as government agents can easily access information about your online activities.
Using incognito mode won’t completely hide your browsing history or protect your privacy. In Fact, despite users browsing in private mode, Google has been sued multiple times for gathering data about its users.
Today, more and more people are turning to virtual private networks (VPNs) to browse the Internet anonymously. VPNs encrypt your traffic and route it through an intermediary server, making it difficult for hackers or government agencies to track your online activity. In this article, we’ll explain how to use a VPN and browse the Internet anonymously.
Contents
6 Tips to Browse the Web Anonymously
If you’re looking to browse the web anonymously, here are six tips to help you out:
Connect To A Vpn
If you’re looking to browse the web privately and securely, connecting to a VPN is a great option. A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and the VPN server, allowing you to browse the web without being exposed to cyberattacks or spying.
VPNs prevent websites and apps from identifying you by changing your IP address. Without a VPN, anyone can access your IP address. So what’s the big deal, what can someone do with your IP? Hackers can use your IP address to track your physical location, and access all of your digital activities. They can use it to find out your online shopping habits, banking information, and even spy on you.
That’s why it’s important to protect your IP with a VPN. This ensures that websites and apps cannot identify you by your IP address.
With a VPN, you can also access foreign Hulu, Netflix and other streaming platforms while remaining anonymous. When choosing a VPN, some of the most important features to look out for include:
- Logging policy: Some VPNs are logging all traffic, while others are not. Make sure you know what kind of logging is taking place so you can make an informed decision about whether or not to use the service.
- Server location: Look for a VPN with servers in your preferred country or region. This will help ensure that your data is encrypted as it traverses the internet and won’t be intercepted by servers in countries with less strict privacy laws.
- Pricing and plans: Prices will vary depending on the type of service offered and the number of simultaneous users allowed. It’s important to review each plan before signing up to make sure you’re getting what you need.
- Location tracking protection: Some VPNs offer special protection against location tracking services such as Google Analytics and Facebook pixel tracking. Look for a service that offers automatic switching between server locations if your device switches networks, so your activity remains anonymous even when using public Wi-Fi.
Make Sure Your Browser Is Privacy-Friendly
Using a security-focused web browser is the best way to stay anonymous online. Different browsers protect users’ privacy in different ways, and some are more effective than others.
It was found in 2020 that popular browsers, such as Chrome and Microsoft Edge, do not protect your privacy. Edge uses identifiers to track users and link requests, according to the study. We are concerned about Google owning Chrome because its business model is heavily based on collecting data and serving ads.
Below are some of the best privacy-friendly browsers:
- Firefox: One of the best browsers for users who like to browse the web anonymously and values their privacy is Mozilla Firefox. Several security features are available in Firefox, including malware and phishing protection. Firefox users will also receive a warning whenever a website attempts to install add-ons.
- Tor browser: To browse completely anonymously, you can install the Tor browser. Communication over Tor is encrypted and anonymous. To reach its destination, all traffic passing through the Tor network is divided into small pieces, encrypted, and sent through three servers.
- Brave: You should choose Brave if you’re used to Google Chrome. Though it’s based on the Chromium core, it has many of the same features as Chrome. Also, DuckDuckGo, which does not track your data for advertising purposes, is a privacy-friendly alternative to Google that doesn’t track your data.
- Safari: Privacy seems to be Apple’s top priority. Safari does not allow suspicious sites to load and it blocks tracking requests.
Use Anonymous Search Engines To Search The Web
By using anonymous search engines, you can browse the Internet without being tracked. They don’t collect your data, and your keywords or links can’t be traced back to you. More importantly, the sites you visit will not be able to track your search terms.
DuckDuckGo is a well-known anonymous search engine that lacks the resources and capabilities of big companies like safari, so your search results will be less accurate.
Protect Your Privacy By Installing Browser Extensions
There are many browser extensions that can help you improve your privacy and safety online and most browsers are compatible with these extensions.
- The Privacy Badger extension gradually blocks invisible trackers. Instead of blocking them instantly, it analyzes which third-party trackers follow you across websites and gradually blocks them.
- uBlock Origin is one of the most popular extensions which blocks unwanted scripts and ads.
- In Ghostery, you can see which tracking cookies are active on each site you visit and block them.
Make Use Of Secure Email Apps
We recommend using email and messaging services that offer end-to-end encryption because emails contain a lot of sensitive information, such as medical and financial records.
A leader in the secure email sector, ProtonMail uses advanced encryption techniques to keep your emails secure. It integrates well with most mail clients, so you can send secure emails from any mail client. Although ProtonMail is a bit pricey, we highly recommend it to secure your email privacy.
Make Sure Your Social Media Settings Are Secure
Facebook and Instagram make money by selling and collecting user data to advertisers. That is why you see ads for search terms you’ve typed into Google or visited on Instagram.
As social media companies’ data collection activities have become increasingly scrutinized, users have more control over their data. These apps and websites offer users the option to control and manage their privacy settings in order to reduce data collection. However it is not always easy to change your privacy settings.
How Does Web Tracking Work?
This article has discussed various methods you can use to secure your connection and anonymously browse the internet. But it’s also important to understand how web tracking works.
- Cookies: Cookie files are small pieces of code which are stored by your browser on your device. Some cookies are useful, such as allowing you to log into services and accounts without signing in every time.
- IP address: IP addresses are unique identifiers assigned to each device. Apps and websites can see your IP address, and advertisers can even track it.
- Web beacons: In this type of tracking, transparent pixels track user behaviour across several websites and track what you do on each website.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a way to browse the internet anonymously, then a VPN might be the perfect solution for you. A VPN allows you to hide your true IP address and make it look as if you’re browsing from somewhere else in the world, which can help protect your privacy.
There are many different VPNs out there, so it’s important to do your research and find one that meets your needs. Once you have a VPN setup and are using it regularly, I think you’ll be very pleased with the results!
