Maintaining privacy and staying anonymous online is extremely challenging, but there are some basic rules that can be followed to significantly reduce the information the internet knows about you.
In a report published by Wired, the author, Matt Burgess, mentioned that everyone on the internet wants to know about you. Websites constantly request your email address or attempt to place tracking cookies on your devices. A mysterious group of advertisers and technology companies track the websites you visit, predict your interests, and anticipate what you might want to purchase. Search engines, browsers, and applications record every search or scroll you make.
The author emphasized that, at this stage of the internet, achieving complete online anonymity throughout your life is extremely difficult. Phones, identification cards, browsers, wireless networks, and other identifiers that can be linked to your activity are widely used. However, there are steps you can take to hide your identity during daily browsing.
Blocking Trackers
The author attributed the continued tracking online to the advertising industry and technology companies heavily relying on ads for revenue, such as Google and Meta. Invisible tracking devices and embedded tracking technology in ads can invisibly track you across the web.
The author recommends starting with your web browser. Ideally, you want to block invisible tracking tools and ads containing embedded tracking technology. Advertisers can also track you using fingerprints, a deceptive method to identify files by using your browser and device settings (such as language, screen size, and various other details).
If you want to know how your current browser is tracking you, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s tracking cover tool can perform a real-time test on your system.
For maximum anonymity, the author suggests using the Tor browser, which can be downloaded in the same way as any other browser. It encrypts your traffic by sending it through a series of servers and also implements anti-surveillance and anti-fingerprinting measures for enhanced privacy.
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