However much you use the internet and in whatever capacity, you are probably always going to be keen to keep on looking after yourself as best as you can. After all, there are a lot of problems that can arise if you are not doing this right, so it’s a really good idea to try and think about those and make sure that you are doing all you can about them. One of the main elements of this is to try and keep yourself private while you are online – a task that might be trickier than you think.
Despite that, there are some great ways in which you can keep yourself a lot more private as you go online, regardless of what device you use. So let’s take a look at this right now and discuss what you can do to keep yourself as private as you would hope. That should give you greater peace of mind.
Browse In Private
Of course, you may already know that there is a private browsing function on most browsers, so this is going to be an important and useful tool when it comes to keeping yourself away from prying eyes online. It’s important to appreciate just what this does, however, and what it does not do most of all. It doesn’t make you anonymous, and anyone who wants to find out who you are and what you are doing will be able to find out if they have the necessary means and skills. However, it does still offer some protection.
Specifically, private browsing features allow you to use your browser without your computer storing cookies or saving history. So it keeps you somewhat private from other users of the computer and ensures that there is no local record of what you do. However, your ISP and others may still be able to see what you are up to, so it is not the same thing as anonymity. Nonetheless, in conjunction with some of the other tools we will mention below, it is a useful thing to have.
Use A VPN
If you don’t already know what a VPN is, then it’s one of the first things you should teach yourself about if you care about remaining private and safe online. It stands for Virtual Private Network, and it’s essentially a way of masking where you are connecting to the internet so that nobody can trace your online movements to you personally, or even to the right location. The way it does this is quite fascinating.
Essentially, the VPN software routes your internet connection through a series of other nodes on the network – other routers, servers, and machines. Then the IP address that you are connected to the internet with is from another computer, not your own. If you are wondering whether this is legal, the answer is yes – it’s perfectly legal, as long as what you are doing with it is also legal.
A VPN is also a great way to access sites that might be location-restricted because you can essentially pretend you are in another country by routing the route through that part of the world. And all of this is done automatically by the software, so it’s really easy to use for anyone, including beginners.
To ensure that your VPN is protecting you completely, make sure you have it on all the time, and use it on all devices that you connect to the internet with. That is going to help keep you private more than anything else.
Install An Ad Blocker
More and more people are using ad blockers. It’s easy to see why – ads are a nuisance when you are browsing online. They very often get in the way of the experience, and it is just much nicer to be able to get rid of them. You can easily and legally remove ads by installing an ad blocker in your browser, and that is a very simple and easy thing to do. You’ll need to be browser-specific, so if you are using Safari you’ll want to find ad blockers for Safari, and so on. But as long as you have one installed, you are going to be a lot more protected.
You might be wondering how blocking ads protects you and keeps you anonymous. It’s because, often, the ads you are shown are based on your previous history, and so many of the best ad blockers also act as masks for that, ensuring that you do not get tracked by advertising cookies. So you are blocking ads while also keeping yourself much more private online. It’s really time that you installed an ad blocker if you have not done so already.
Avoid Searching With Google
Google is one of the very worst offenders when it comes to tracking your movements online, because they are primarily an advertising model where you are the product, and your data is being sold to advertisers all around the world. Fortunately, you don’t need to use Google in order to search the web, and it is highly advisable that you don’t. There are other search engines out there that will give you the same results but without tracking your movements or storing your searches at all.
The most famous of these is probably DuckDuckGo, which you can install as a browser add-on, on your mobile phone, or just on their site, however, you prefer. If you only ever search with DuckDuckGo, you are going to be much less visible online, and you’ll start to notice fewer and fewer ‘appropriate’ ads coming your way. So this is something that you should definitely think about taking up as soon as possible if you want to stay truly anonymous online.
Those are the best ways to keep yourself private and anonymous online. As you can see, it’s relatively straightforward to do, but the results are great and you will be glad that you did it. It will mean a much better online experience on the whole.
