Every day each of us uses various devices to communicate on the Internet, to search for information or to share information. With the help of the Internet we learn and relax in our free time. The internet is literally everywhere, it is in your smartphone, laptop, personal computer, electronic watch, TV and even in your car.
Each of these devices collects your information, what apps and features you've used, what your geolocation is, what your device's IP address is, and other data.
But in this day and age, how do you stay anonymous if you want to minimize your digital footprint when tech companies, governments and hackers of all kinds want your data to take advantage of it?
To be anonymous on the Internet means to hide your identity as much as possible, to protect yourself from cyber threats, to keep your personal life private when using the Internet through the various ways that will be described in this article.
1. Always use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Thanks to this technology it is possible to hide your real location, your IP address.
Internet provider and network administrator (at work or at school) can find out what pages you visited on the Internet.
There are a lot of services that allow you to connect to VPN-servers, it is possible to connect to servers located in different countries, try to choose it for your tasks and avoid servers of your country without necessity.
2. Try to use anonymous browsers.
Such browsers were created for such purposes, they initially have built-in functions for anonymity and privacy, for example, Tor Browser, but such browsers will be inconvenient to the average user at first sight, they may lack some familiar and convenient functions, most likely you will have to give up extensions in browsers, which many people are so used to.
3. Avoid using personal information on the Internet.
Do not specify your real data, such as name, surname, date of birth, city and so on. Also do not when creating e-mail addresses, passwords, include any data that can be associated with you. Do not use your photos, because what got into the Internet will never leave it. Leaks of such data are not uncommon, so try to pick up always pseudonyms that are far from your real data.
4. Use the Tor network.
Open proxy servers, on the basis of which Tor works with several levels of encryption, will also help you to hide your real IP address.
5. Be careful when posting on the Internet.
Before you publish anything on the Internet think several times, double-check it, especially if you are communicating with a stranger, make sure that you do not disclose personal information, that you do not violate the laws of a particular country, especially in which you live.
6. Two-factor authentication.
Many people neglect this feature, which is a big mistake. Two-factor authentication protects your accounts from unwanted access by third parties. You just need to connect this function and when authorizing somewhere you can receive an SMS with an access code or get it in a special application.
7. Never open suspicious links on the Internet.
Links sent to you in a private message, especially from strangers, sent to your e-mail address may be phishing, may contain viruses or other programs.
Even using search engines on the Internet always check the correctness of the address of the site, whether there are no errors in it, because the site may be just a copy of the real one, which is used by criminals.
8. Use anonymous search engines.
Almost all known search engines give information about your query to marketers and put them in their database (which may leak at some point, or may be sold).
I don't recommend using Google or Bing. What you should really use are such systems as: DuckDuckGo, StartPage, SwissCows, they do not save and do not track your requests on the Internet (but in any case try to moderate your requests on the Internet).
We have analyzed the main ways to stay anonymous on the Internet, by following these simple steps on a regular basis you will be able not to give away your identity, not to receive targeted advertising, to use blocked resources on the Internet in your country. But remember that these methods can only give you additional protection, but cannot keep you completely safe.
Each of these devices collects your information, what apps and features you've used, what your geolocation is, what your device's IP address is, and other data.
But in this day and age, how do you stay anonymous if you want to minimize your digital footprint when tech companies, governments and hackers of all kinds want your data to take advantage of it?
To be anonymous on the Internet means to hide your identity as much as possible, to protect yourself from cyber threats, to keep your personal life private when using the Internet through the various ways that will be described in this article.
1. Always use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Thanks to this technology it is possible to hide your real location, your IP address.
Internet provider and network administrator (at work or at school) can find out what pages you visited on the Internet.
There are a lot of services that allow you to connect to VPN-servers, it is possible to connect to servers located in different countries, try to choose it for your tasks and avoid servers of your country without necessity.
2. Try to use anonymous browsers.
Such browsers were created for such purposes, they initially have built-in functions for anonymity and privacy, for example, Tor Browser, but such browsers will be inconvenient to the average user at first sight, they may lack some familiar and convenient functions, most likely you will have to give up extensions in browsers, which many people are so used to.
3. Avoid using personal information on the Internet.
Do not specify your real data, such as name, surname, date of birth, city and so on. Also do not when creating e-mail addresses, passwords, include any data that can be associated with you. Do not use your photos, because what got into the Internet will never leave it. Leaks of such data are not uncommon, so try to pick up always pseudonyms that are far from your real data.
4. Use the Tor network.
Open proxy servers, on the basis of which Tor works with several levels of encryption, will also help you to hide your real IP address.
5. Be careful when posting on the Internet.
Before you publish anything on the Internet think several times, double-check it, especially if you are communicating with a stranger, make sure that you do not disclose personal information, that you do not violate the laws of a particular country, especially in which you live.
6. Two-factor authentication.
Many people neglect this feature, which is a big mistake. Two-factor authentication protects your accounts from unwanted access by third parties. You just need to connect this function and when authorizing somewhere you can receive an SMS with an access code or get it in a special application.
7. Never open suspicious links on the Internet.
Links sent to you in a private message, especially from strangers, sent to your e-mail address may be phishing, may contain viruses or other programs.
Even using search engines on the Internet always check the correctness of the address of the site, whether there are no errors in it, because the site may be just a copy of the real one, which is used by criminals.
8. Use anonymous search engines.
Almost all known search engines give information about your query to marketers and put them in their database (which may leak at some point, or may be sold).
I don't recommend using Google or Bing. What you should really use are such systems as: DuckDuckGo, StartPage, SwissCows, they do not save and do not track your requests on the Internet (but in any case try to moderate your requests on the Internet).
We have analyzed the main ways to stay anonymous on the Internet, by following these simple steps on a regular basis you will be able not to give away your identity, not to receive targeted advertising, to use blocked resources on the Internet in your country. But remember that these methods can only give you additional protection, but cannot keep you completely safe.