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How to Stay Completely Anonymous Online

When we go online, we are already discovering some information about ourselves, and with each further click, the amount of that information grows. Not only is privacy important on social networks, but you should take care of everything you do on your computer.

There are countless opportunities for someone to steal your information, but also ways to prevent it. In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about privacy on various social networks and how to limit access to data by users left on them. However, it is not just the social networks of places that have a wealth of data that reveal our interests, habits, desires or personal information.

For the most part, users do not know how much treacherous data is “remembered” by their internet browser or personal computer. And that data in the wrong hands can do more harm than an awkward college party photo. But this does not mean that you need to panicly erase all the data on your computer or stop using the Internet to make purchases or make electronic payments. You just have to be more careful.

There are some measures that Internet users can take to protect their anonymity and thus reduce the risk of spying and targeted advertising. It is important to emphasize that by taking these measures, your online anonymity, and therefore your privacy, is not guaranteed! Taking these measures will make it difficult to keep track of your online activities, for a large number of “spies” you will be anonymous, and your privacy will not be compromised.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

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Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a private communications network used for communication within a public network designed to connect computers located in different geographic locations into one common local area network. A virtual private network acts as an intermediary between your device and your Internet server, directing (routing) all your activity through your own little loop of Internet encryption. This means that it would be very difficult for potential intruders to discover your information or discover what you are doing.

Proxy server

They own many IP addresses. What they will do for you is that instead of displaying your IP address, which indicates when you go to a Web site, they will display their IP address, leaving your location and other information anonymous. However, what needs to be said is that if you commit any criminal or immoral act, the Proxy server will hand over your real IP address to the competent institutions.

Virtual machines

If you are concerned that hackers or government agencies might see what you are reading online, one of the options is to download your files to a virtual machine and then turn off Internet access to that machine. You can then open the files, read them, and take notes to make sure no one is spying on you.

Tor

Img source: torproject.org

Most people use Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Apple Safari to search the web, however, if you want anonymity The Onion Router (Tor) is the Internet browser you need to use. Tor uses a huge network of computers to route your Web traffic through a series of encrypted layers to hide the true origin of traffic, that is, where that Web traffic really comes from.

The drawback can be a slightly slower search speed, but Anonymania suggests it’s a price worth paying if you’re worried about your security.

IP blocker

It should be said that there are programs that block other IPs from accessing your computer. They do not hide your IP address but prevent others from following you while watching your internet activities. The disadvantage of this approach is that blocking IP addresses limits the ability to access the Internet.

Blocking Cookies

Third-party cookies are one of the most common methods advertisers use to track people and their browsing habits. However, today, all popular Internet browsers offer the ability to block cookies.

Changing Web Services

Img source: computerworld.com

If you are already thinking of changing your web browser, why not get some services? Remember when you could create a Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail account in minutes without having to provide extremely private information like a phone number or other mail address? Yes, even opening a mail account is not as anonymous as it used to be. Look for alternatives that may not require such information.

How to Clean Everything

Even with the private browsing mode, your session traces still remain on your computer, things like DNS lookups and Flash cookies. Don’t think that mode is really that private and protected.

Modern browsers use the “Clear Private Data” option, which will clean up things like search history, cookies, and cache, but your system still has DNS data and, worse, Flash cookies.

Whenever you visit a URL, your browser searches for the IP address of that URL and then connects you to that IP address. To speed up this process, these listings, also known as the Domain Name System (DNS), are being saved for future search, so if you ever visit that same URL, you no longer need to go to the page you previously visited. Unfortunately, this can serve as the history of the web pages you visit.

If you are interested in your DNS cache, use this command in Windows ipconfig / displaydns.You can see a multitude of entries, more than you can see at once. Want proof that browsing in private mode still saves the webpages you’ve visited here? Open a new window in private browsing mode and visit a page you might have never visited. There is a good chance that the new site will end up in this list in the DNS cache.

Img source: networkencyclopedia.com
  • One-time e-mail addresses and sending an anonymous e-mail.
  • One-time e-mail services hide your real e-mail address and prevent spam by giving you a temporary e-mail address that diverts e-mails to your real e-mail address. There are many one-time e-mail services available to you.

Conclusion

But in the end, there remains one true way to be anonymous when online. Turn off your computer, shred it, then take all your smart devices and destroy them, leaving no trace of them. Now you have cleared the technology from your life completely, and you can return to your cave.

We’re kidding, of course, but if you’re not doing anything illegal, there’s no need to be too scared about someone spying on you. Most importantly, make sure you use specialized cards for this purpose to pay online.

Finally, If you have a story that you want to share with other people, you can opt for anonymous online platforms like the Doe, where your identity will be hidden. You can write about any subject and share your story so that you are not only relieving your stress, but you are also helping other people learn from your experiences.

About Stefania Trtica