It has always been a challenge to Stay Anonymous Online while surfing because we all have experienced online tracking incidents. One notoriously familiar experience of getting bombarded with similar items over social media, YouTube advertisements, of a product we search online on an e-commerce website. There have been similar incidents that you may or may not have noticed but it is always wise to stay Anonymous and block the trackers. There are few tools for Anonymity available freely that you can use to stay anonymous and block trackers. These tools are almost free all the time or have a free basic version that gets the job done. Some tools we will discuss today are VPN, Proxy Servers to hide IP address for anonymous browsing.
Stay Anonymous Online using VPN–
A VPN stands for “Virtual Private Network” and it is a not recently developed technology but has become rapidly popular among Internet users. A VPN provides a safer network by creating an encrypted connection over a less secure Internet connection. Simply put, it encrypts all of your data traffic, transferring it to a server that is physically located somewhere else. A VPN is an effective way to become anonymous on the Internet since it protects our original IP Address and makes it look like we are connecting to the Internet from some other network. A VPN provides safety against the Internet Service Provider by creating secured VPN tunnels that require tokens, passwords, or other authentication methods to gain access. Today the VPN industry has grown at a very large scale and there are VPN services available according to the user’s requirements.
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Tor Browser–
TOR is an abbreviation for “The Onion Router” and it is arguably the most effective way to conceal your online identity. It was originally developed with the US Navy and basically consists of network servers from all around the globe, allowing its users to browse the Internet anonymously. TOR uses a network of virtual tunnels to disguise a user’s identity by encrypting and moving the traffic across different TOR servers so that it cannot be traced back to the user. In terms of security, TOR is the best choice but there are just a few drawbacks like the TOR server speeds are slower than normal servers, and many sites have blocked access to their website through a TOR server.
VirtualBox-
A virtual machine is an imitation of an actual computer system that provides the functionalities of a physical computer on the basis of certain computer architectures. A virtual Box is a virtualization tool that acts like a container wherein the applications and the guest operating systems can run. It is designed to function in isolation from the main device and so with the help of a virtual box, you can conceal your original machine and its identity thereby preventing it from any attacks.
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Stay Anonymous Online using Proxy Servers –
Using proxy servers is another way to ensure online anonymity. Proxy servers act as an intermediate application between the server and the client that wants to access some resources from the server. Unlike a VPN that provides an entirely different network to the user, a proxy server just acts as a middle man between the client and the server. The proxy servers act like a blanket around your IP address i.e hide IP address since the requested server sees only the IP address of the proxy server which hides your identity from the web host.
Secure Messaging Apps–
By securing the messages sent through any medium whether it be an online chatting service or an email account, we can ensure that our online information is not exposed or vulnerable to attacks. An encrypted message protects the user’s privacy because only the sender and receiver can access that message. The main point to keep in mind while choosing a messaging app is whether it uses the “end-to-end encryption” technique or not. This way your information is not available to third-parties and is secured over the server. Some of the secure messaging apps are Signal, Wickr Me, Dust, Whatsapp, and Telegram.
Also, since emails have become such a crucial part of our lives, it is suggested to use safer email services like ProtonMail, MailFence, etc. instead of popular emailing services like Gmail that sell your data and make billions out of it, putting your privacy and security at stake.
Stay Anonymous Online using Incognito Mode –
Every browser available today provides an option for incognito browsing mode. This is because regular browsing stores your online information in the form of cookies and these cookies can be compromised to recover data. Also, applications like Facebook and Google can track your online movements in the regular browsing mode. All these problems can be solved by using the incognito mode wherein none of your browsing histories is recorded, the browser does not store any cookies or data and it makes you invisible to the other people on the device.
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Block Ads & Trackers using Ad Blockers –
In the present times, if a new product is launched in the market, it will not be a success until and unless it is properly advertised. The advertising market has changed drastically and has highly shifted its focus toward digital advertising. Now the large players in this industry tack your each and every move online, collect this data and then try to sell products through advertisements based on your online history. Using a powerful ad-blocker reduces the risk of exposure of your online data thereby reducing the possibility of your personal information being vulnerable to attackers.
Fake Emails –
Fake email address is mostly used to remain anonymous on the internet. It can be used for signup, replying to an email or forwarding an email, receiving confirmation link, or just for avoiding your personal or official mailbox from getting filled with spam emails. To ease this process a large number of fake email or temporary email generator tools are available online that allow users to create fake email ids without any hassles and thus conceal their real identity online. Some of the popular fake email generators are Emailfake.com, Fake Email Generator, TempMail.com, etc.
File Shredder –
It happens a lot of times that we store sensitive information on our device or on online platforms and after the work is done, we forget about it. These files still remain stores on your system and if an attacker retrieves them, it can be very problematic for you. The best practice here is to scrape off these files that are no longer in use but still contain useful data. This can be done using special tools or services available on your system known as “File shredder”. It is similar to a physical file shredder and shreds of the unwanted files and data from your system.
Duck Duck Go –
DuckDuckGo is a web browser that describes itself as “the search engine that doesn’t track you”. It promises of not using cookies to follow its users and also claims that it doesn’t collect any personal information on those who use it. Even your IP address is hidden. Every time you search on DuckDuckGo, you have a blank search history, as if it’s your first time there. It prevents the so-called “search leakage” by redirecting a site request in such a way that it prevents sending your search terms to other sites. It is way more secure and privacy-driven than popular web browsers like Google and Bing.
So, to conclude, it is a very important aspect to secure our online presence while using the Internet since individual online privacy is very crucial for a large number of reasons. The above mentioned are some of the methods through which you can conceal your online identity and become anonymous on the Internet.
