There are always going to be good reasons for people to go online without being tracked. For one, anonymity may be the only way for a real whistleblower to reveal corruption, considering how some have been treated. But there's nothing wrong with wanting to stay anonymous, no matter what you're doing.
Is it even possible to take control of your own personal privacy online? Ultimately, the only way to stay truly anonymous online is...not to go online at all. That's not a real option for most of us, though. Here's a rundown of what you can do to minimize spying, targeted ads, and ID theft as you explore the online world.
Remain (Mostly) Anonymous Online Using Linux
If you want to be anonymous, forget about using a smartphone. The big-name mobile OS makers are control freaks (Apple) and ad servers (Google). To be anonymous when you use a phone, your choice is a prepaid phone, aka a burner.
To summarize, using stealth modes, special browsers, and private search engines won't make you completely anonymous. But they prevent sites from writing info to your computer, including cookies, which can be used to figure out your browsing habits.
It is generally not recommended to use public Wi-Fi networks, as they may be insecure and vulnerable to hackers. If you must connect to a public network, use a VPN and avoid sharing sensitive information.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Paul Bischoff","description":"Paul is Comparitech\u2019s editor and a regular commentator on cyber security and privacy topics in national and international media including New York Times, BBC, Forbes, The Guardian and many others. He's been writing about the tech industry since 2012 for publications like Tech in Asia, Mashable, and various startup blogs. \nPaul has an in-depth knowledge of VPNs, having been an early adopter while looking to access the open internet during this time in China.\nHe previously worked in Beijing as an editor for Tech in Asia, and has been writing and reporting on technology for the last decade. He has also volunteered as a teacher for older adults learning basic tech literacy and cyber awareness. You can find him on Twitter at @pabischoff.\n","url":"https:\/\/www.comparitech.com\/author\/paul-bischoff\/"}},"@type":"Question","name":"What level of encryption is the most secure?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"The most secure level of encryption is 256-bit encryption. This type of encryption uses a key that contains 256 0s and 1s, making it extremely difficult for unauthorized users to decrypt the data or gain access to it. It is widely considered the highest level of security available today, as it would take billions of years for a computer to crack the code. This makes 256-bit encryption a popular choice for organizations and individuals who need to protect sensitive data from cyber criminals or malicious actors.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Paul Bischoff","description":"Paul is Comparitech\u2019s editor and a regular commentator on cyber security and privacy topics in national and international media including New York Times, BBC, Forbes, The Guardian and many others. He's been writing about the tech industry since 2012 for publications like Tech in Asia, Mashable, and various startup blogs. \nPaul has an in-depth knowledge of VPNs, having been an early adopter while looking to access the open internet during this time in China.\nHe previously worked in Beijing as an editor for Tech in Asia, and has been writing and reporting on technology for the last decade. He has also volunteered as a teacher for older adults learning basic tech literacy and cyber awareness. You can find him on Twitter at @pabischoff.\n","url":"https:\/\/www.comparitech.com\/author\/paul-bischoff\/","@type":"Question","name":"What information can my ISP see without a VPN?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"Without a VPN, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) can see all the websites you visit and any data sent over the internet. They can also track which IP addresses you connect to and potentially monitor your online activity. They can see everything you do online, including emails, web searches, and purchases. A VPN can protect your online data from being monitored by your ISP, as it creates an encrypted connection between you and the internet. This makes it much harder for your ISP to see what you are doing online, keeping your activities private and secure.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Paul Bischoff","description":"Paul is Comparitech\u2019s editor and a regular commentator on cyber security and privacy topics in national and international media including New York Times, BBC, Forbes, The Guardian and many others. He's been writing about the tech industry since 2012 for publications like Tech in Asia, Mashable, and various startup blogs. \nPaul has an in-depth knowledge of VPNs, having been an early adopter while looking to access the open internet during this time in China.\nHe previously worked in Beijing as an editor for Tech in Asia, and has been writing and reporting on technology for the last decade. He has also volunteered as a teacher for older adults learning basic tech literacy and cyber awareness. You can find him on Twitter at @pabischoff.\n","url":"https:\/\/www.comparitech.com\/author\/paul-bischoff\/"]} "@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":["@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.comparitech.com\/","@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.comparitech.com\/blog\/","@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"VPN & Privacy","item":"https:\/\/www.comparitech.com\/blog\/vpn-privacy\/","@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Remain anonymous online","item":"https:\/\/www.comparitech.com\/blog\/vpn-privacy\/how-to-remain-completely-anonymous-and-hidden-online\/"]BlogVPN & PrivacyRemain anonymous online We are funded by our readers and may receive a commission when you buy using links on our site. How to remain completely anonymous and hidden online It is possible to remain anonymous online, but it's getting more difficult all the time. No measure you take will ever be perfect, but you can make it more difficult than it's worth for anyone to expose you. Paul Bischoff TECH WRITER, PRIVACY ADVOCATE AND VPN EXPERT @pabischoff UPDATED: January 6, 2023 body.single .section.main-content.sidebar-active .col.grid-item.sidebar.span_1_of_3 float: right; body.single .section.main-content.sidebar-active .col.grid-item.content.span_2_of_3 margin-left: 0;
A final thought before we dig into specific technical tools: "Online" is now a meaningless word. Meatspace and cyberspace have merged. We used to live in the "real world" and "go online." Now we live online, and things like geotracking of cell phones, facial recognition in public physical spaces, and so forth mean no amount of "online anonymity" will help you if your meatspace self is not also anonymous, which is nearly impossible these days.
Tor Browser, on the other hand, routes your traffic to many, many different intermediary servers within the Tor Network, known as nodes, which serve to obfuscate the original source of the traffic before exiting the Tor Network via an exit node and finally arriving at the intended destination. As you might expect, this slows down your browsing speed slightly, but if privacy is a concern, one can learn to live with sacrificing a little speed for anonymous web browsing. It is recommended that you use Tor Browser only when a specific task or tasks necessitate extra caution, rather than using it as your daily driver.
The four primary anonymity modes are outlined below. These "modes" are different behavior patters that a user will consciously or unconsciously apply to his online activities. We highly recommend that you consciously keep those "modes" separate to only be identifiable when you need to and otherwise stay anonymous safely.
Users could try to find an online service that will receive a personal SMS on their behalf. That would work and would be anonymous. The problem is this method will probably not work for Google and Facebook, because they actively blacklist such numbers for verification. Another option is trying to find someone else to receive the SMS for you, but that would only shift the risk to the other person. [15]
Using Tor with online banking and payment accounts is not anonymous for reasons already outlined. It is pseudonymous and only offers location privacy and a circumvention method in the event access to the site is blocked by the ISP. The difference between anonymity and pseudonymity is covered in an earlier section.
Using a non-Tor browser and Tor Browser at the same time runs the risk of confusing them at one point, and de-anonymizing yourself in the process. It is also risky to use clearnet and Tor at the same time because simultaneous, anonymous and non-anonymous server connections might be established.
Also, using a VPN and communicating through an anonymous email address will keep your identity hidden. However, it still leaves open the possibility of your emails being intercepted through a middleman. To avoid this, you can encrypt your emails before sending them using HTTPS in your web-based email client, which adds SSL/TLS encryption to all your communications. For webchats, you also can consider using TOR chat, an encrypted chat service that is hard to break.
Safeguard your privacy and protect your email address against phishing and spams using email aliases by SimpleLogin, instead of your real email address. It lets you generate aliases on the go that you can use to create an online account or sign-up for newsletters.
You can also make use of a VPN to protect your identity online. Also, it can be used to send anonymous emails. The trick behind using VPN is not to subscribe to a free VPN service. Most times, a free VPN service tends to sell user data to third parties.
You can buy prepaid cards in many places, including online or from a physical store. How you buy them, and what you do with them after you have used up all the money, determines whether a prepaid card is partially anonymous, or fully anonymous. Be careful, however, as the FTC warns about some prepaid card payment scams. 2ff7e9595c
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