After knowing how companies snoop into everything you do online, do you believe the internet was built on anonymity?
Privacy on the web is something we can only dream about. It’s not only about the government spying, but it’s also about how tech giants like Facebook, Google, Amazon, etc collect data for targeted ads. This is why we look for ways to remain anonymous online.
Whatever the reason, people want to go online without being tracked. And there’s nothing wrong with staying anonymous online. In this era where identity theft, hacking, phishing attacks have become rampant safeguarding personal info theft is of utmost importance.
Thankfully this can be done in a number of ways and today we are going to discuss how to remain anonymous and protect identity theft.
If you are thinking that we will recommend going offline then you are wrong. As that’s not an option. Here we will discuss how you can avoid being a victim of identity theft.
Ways To Stay Anonymous On the Internet
Keep the following points in mind to minimize spying, targeted ads, ID theft, etc.
1. Get An Anonymizing Operating System
The best way to remain anonymous is to use Linux, the flagship open-source platform. This operating system can do what other operating systems cannot. Live distro such as Tails or ZeusGuard can simply run from the CD/DVD or USB without making changes to the current system. This means if you don’t want to boot into Windows to stay anonymous online you can use your trustworthy Live Linux OS and boot distribution of your choice. Thereby avoid being a victim to identity theft.
2. Phone Call Confidentiality
Just by wanting to stay anonymous, you cannot get internet anonymity. To actually hide identity online you’ll need to stop using your smartphone instead use a Burner phone. In movies, you might have seen how actors throw their phones and mislead the person tracking them. The same way you can do so with the help of a burner phone and can stay protected from information theft. Moreover, when you use a burner phone your real name is not associated with the device. This means you can remain anonymous.
3. Use VPN
Next, use a VPN an anonymous method to connect to the Internet. There are literally dozens of VPNs specifically built for this purpose. You can use any of them to make tracking your digital footprints difficult. The most powerful and effective of all VPNs are NordVPN, CyberGhost, etc. You can use any of them as per the requirement.
4. Use Tor Browser
The browser plays an important role in keeping you anonymous. To stay hidden, use an anonymized browser, like Tor, Brave, etc. Once you use Tor or a brave browser to surf the web all the traffic will be routed via random nodes to hide your identity online. This way you can attain internet anonymity and safeguard yourself from personal info theft.
5. Avoid Using Plug-ins
Many of us today to simplify things use browser plug-ins, but all aren’t safe. Majority of plugins that you use leave traces and can reveal your location & identity. Therefore, if you want to remain anonymous on the internet avoid using plugins.
However, if you want to use plugins, use Privacy Badger, a plugin designed with enhanced privacy. Available for Chrome and Firefox, this plugin prevents advertisers and third-party trackers from tracking your web browsing. Note Privacy Badger will block only those ads that are used as trackers. The more you browse, the more effective Privacy Badger becomes, as it learns from your online behavior and helps identity theft.
6. Use HTTPS
When visiting a site check if it is on HTTP or HTTPS. Trust the ones with HTTPS. However, if you want to visit an HTTP site use a VPN like ExpressVPN, CyberGhost to remain anonymous online.
7. Set Up Anonymous Burner Accounts
Use different accounts, password and password question answers for each website where you create a login account. Those who’re paranoid should create multiple email accounts making it difficult to trackback. Use email services that explain themselves as being anonymous. This will help avoid being a victim of identity theft.
8. Test For DNS Leaks And Browser Tracking
ISPs usually use their own DNS servers to track your online activities and identify you. If you do not want to be tracked or are concerned about online privacy use VPNs like NordVPN, CyberGhost as they use DNS servers to protect internet anonymity.
To be sure that you are protected against DNS leaks, use any of the VPN and go to www.DNSLeakTest.com. Run the extended test this will help protect identity theft.
9. Avoid Storing Data In Browser
By default, browsers store surfing history, downloads, cache, and cookies. All this is a threat to identity protection. Hence, to stay safe instead of relying on a web browser to save passwords use password managers. We recommend using TweakPass an ultimate password manager that not only helps protect passwords but also lets you generate complex passwords. To use this password, you just need to remember a master password and leave rest to TweakPass.
In addition to this, use anonymous surfing modes. Learn how to open browsers in Incognito mode.
10. Share Files Anonymously
Cloud storage service Dropbox lets you share files with others. However, if you want internet anonymity and share files of any size, try the open-source OnionShare, available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Ubuntu.
This will help share files anonymously.
11. Use A Secure Search Engine
Popular search engines like Google, Bing, etc track your online activities to show target ads. Therefore, to remain anonymous on the internet and to save yourself from personal info theft use DuckDuckGo a secure search engine that offers plenty of useful features including region-specific searching; Safe Search, etc. Using this secure search engine, you can stay anonymous online.
12. Turn Off Your Location
Web sites can get location data when you browse the web or from your PC. Therefore, it is important to learn how to deactivate or fake location in the browser. In addition to this disable location in Windows 10. To do so, head to Settings > Privacy > Location. Click the Change button and move the slider to disable location. That alone isn’t enough you’ll need to clear device history too. For this on the same page scroll down to Location History and click the Clear button underneath “Clear history on this device.”
13. Block Javascript
JavaScript is a well-known privacy invader, it allows web servers to find out information about you. This makes it easier to track your digital footprints, for maximum safety, disable JavaScript. But this can interfere with online browsing hence you can use extensions like NoScript for Firefox and ScriptSafe on Chrome to disable JavaScript. Both these extensions will help decide which sites should load JavaScript.
14. Keep Your Webmail Private
When you send emails using Gmail or Outlook.com, they can be snooped upon. Hence you should use an email service that offers encryption. A great one is ProtonMail, which encrypts all of your emails with end-to-end encryption. In addition to this, there are other best free email service providers that you can use. ProtonMail doesn’t keep IP logs hence it is the best webmail that helps stay anonymous online.
15. Delete Cookies And Your Browsing History
It’s a good idea to regularly clean out cookies that websites use to track you. Here you can learn how to disable cookies in Google Chrome. Moreover, clear browser cookies on Mac
The Takeaway To Remain Anonymous On The Internet
Each of the internet anonymity methods can be bypassed if not followed properly. To stay protected from personal info theft, identity theft, try using all of the methods. This will make it more difficult for hackers to get into your account. Avoid accepting default settings change them to stay secure and avoid being a victim of identity theft. Not only this, if we choose an easy way out hackers will take advantage of it and no one can save you from identity theft. Therefore, to hide identity online be a part of the solution.