We are living in such era where every online move is being tracked by the major internet companies. Meanwhile, maintaining online privacy is a big deal to many of us. How to maintain your privacy and security online? How to stay anonymous online? This is the most asked question from amateur internet users to security experts. Many websites implement tracking cookies to get maximum details from the users. Internet service providers can see what are you browsing, uploading & downloading. So, here are a few tips that you can implement right now to stay anonymous and hide your online footprints.
Using TOR Browser
The Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked as well. Tor is the most safest browsers in terms of security & privacy. It comes with build VPN, which helps to stay anonymous online.
VPN
VPN creates a virtual encrypted tunnel between you and a remote server operated by a VPN service. All external internet traffic is routed through this tunnel, so your data is secure from prying eyes. Best of all, your computer appears to have the IP address of the VPN server, masking your identity. When your data reaches the VPN server, it exits onto the public internet. If the site you’re heading to uses HTTPS to secure the connection, you’re still secure. But even if it was intercepted, it’s difficult to trace the data back to you, since it appears to be coming from the VPN server.
Stop Clicking Random Short URL Links
How easy is it to hide a link to something disgusting, unsafe, or illegal inside a short link? Way too easy. Head to bit.ly and follow the instructions. And that’s just one of many URL shorteners out there. How bad could it be? If an unsuspecting user were to click the e-mail link, land on what appears to be eBay.com (but is actually a malicious site) and log in as requested, the hackers now have their user name and password. From there, they have full access to the user’s account, including credit card info. Using that information, they can also try logging in to other websites (many people re-use the same password), e-mail accounts and corporate accounts.
Changing Your Browser’s Privacy Settings
If you want to browse anonymously, you can start by reducing the amount of information your web browser is able to collect. Head to your browser’s settings menu and turn off automatic password storage; you can also browse in an incognito window if you’re worried about your browser logging the sites you use.You should also make a point of emptying your browser’s cookies every few weeks – or days. Because potentially personal information like web history, passwords, downloads and more are all kept in your cache, deleting your cookies helps reduce your digital footprint and keep your online logs to a minimum.
Avoiding Spam Messages
Beyond the obvious things—like never, EVER clicking on a link in a spam message, or even opening a spam email—the best way to avoid spam is to never let them get your address. It’s almost impossible, but there are methods to mitigate.
