The truth about online anonymity is that no one is completely anonymous online. There will always be certain aspects or elements of an internet connection that someone can trace. However, if you want to increase your security in the digital age, you can take some basic precautions that serve to hide or disguise your identity. This wikiHow teaches you the basic steps to being as anonymous on the internet as possible.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Knowing Your Tracking Process Online
Step 1. Identify what internet service providers (ISPs) can track
An internet service provider or Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a service that is used to connect to the internet. When connected to the internet, the modem or router is assigned an IP address, and this address can be tracked and led to your account. This means that, at the very least, anyone who can see your IP address can identify the ISP being used. If you perform illegal acts via an IP address, government law enforcement agencies (eg police or even investigative bureaus) can contact your internet service provider to find out who used the IP address at the time, and the sites and services accessed. Some other aspects that ISPs can identify based on IP address:
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Website content:
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MAC address:
A Media Access Control (MAC) address is an address that is specifically assigned to a WiFi card or computer network. The internet service provider can find out the MAC address on your network that is being used with the IP address at any one time. This means that if you use a school, work, home network, the network administrator can identify the sites and services that are accessed from your computer.
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Port number:
If you're trying to access (or receive a connection from) a certain port number, your internet service provider will usually be able to find out what type of service you're using, such as web browsing (usually ports 443 and 80) or e-mail delivery (usually ports 25, 587, 587, or 465)..
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VPN service (virtual private network):
If you use a VPN on your internet connection to hide your online activity, your internet service provider can find out which VPN service you are using and when you are using it. However, internet service providers cannot know for sure what you do once your device is connected to a VPN.
Step 2. Find out what websites can “learn” from you
Most websites earn through advertising. To successfully encourage visitors to click on (and shop from) ads, site owners and ad networks need to know what you're interested in and your internet usage in order to show relevant ads. Websites collect data by setting a tracking cookie on a computer which can show other websites visited, your location, browser and operating system used, duration of visits to websites, and links clicked. These cookies can also tell if you're logged into certain social media accounts/sites (eg Facebook), what you're looking for, and even how much battery power your laptop has left. All of this happens automatically when you visit a site that performs data mining without you knowing it.
- To find out what a website is looking for by visiting it once, access the site https://webkay.robinlinus.com. Once the page loads, you can find a surprising variety of information.
- Not all cookies are “bad” cookies. In fact, it is important that you allow some useful cookies. Cookies are used to store pieces of data on the computer to make surfing the virtual world more comfortable and easier. For example, cookies allow you to log into accounts that require a password, add items to a shopping cart, and more. However, some cookies such as "tracking cookies" or "third-party cookies" are designed to track your activity across all websites, and not just the sites you visit.
- Google plans to block all third-party tracking cookies from the Chrome web browser by 2022.
Step 3. Identify the wireless access point used
Step 1. Install the privacy protection browser add-on/extension
If you don't want to be tracked on the internet, there are a variety of tools you can install into your web browser:
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HTTPS Everywhere:
This browser extension ensures that you always visit the encrypted (https) version of the website. You can get this extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera. This extension comes pre-installed on web browsers that are more focused on security like Brave and Tor.
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Privacy Badger:
Designed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), this tool blocks third-party tracking cookies so that advertising services and websites cannot track you after you leave their pages. You can download Privacy Badger for Firefox, Edge, and Opera.
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Ghostery:
This tool is similar to Privacy Badger and works by blocking third-party tracking cookies. In addition, this tool can also block ads and allow you to modify your blocking preferences. Ghostery is available for Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and Opera.
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NoScript:
This add-on is only available for Firefox and works by blocking all JavaScript on websites. Since most websites require JavaScript to function properly, you can manually maintain a whitelist to allow JavaScript on sites you do trust.
Step 2. Replace your web browser with Tor
The Tor web browser redirects all internet traffic to its own network so you can surf the web anonymously. When browsing through Tor, it can be very difficult (if not impossible) for your internet service provider, network administrator, or WiFi hacker to see the sites you visit or the accounts you access.
- Never download Tor from sites other than
- If you don't want your internet service provider to know that you're browsing through Tor, you'll also need to use a VPN.
Step 3. Use a virtual private network (Virtual Private Network or VPN)
A VPN service encrypts everything you do on the internet so you can be anonymous online. A general rule to remember is that if you use a quality and trusted VPN service, all your internet activity will remain hidden and private. Using a VPN also prevents internet service providers from being able to see your activity online. However, some VPN servers store records of your activity and can be called/ordered to disclose these recordings if at any time you are suspected of committing a crime.
Even if your internet service provider and other people connected to your local network cannot see your activity when your device is connected to a VPN, a VPN service provider can still do so. Unfortunately, there is no surefire way to ensure that a VPN service provider is not recording or logging your activity on its service. Therefore, find out about the available VPN services before choosing or using them
Step 4. Fake your MAC address
The MAC address is the hardware address that identifies the computer on the router. Whenever the device/computer is connected to the network, the MAC address will appear automatically to indicate your presence. As a preventive measure, you can use a fake MAC address to anonymize your activity on the network. However, the websites you visit and the services/accounts you access may still be known by your internet service provider and network administrator. However, you can take advantage of a VPN as an added element of protection.
Step 5. Browse the internet from public WiFi access points (with exceptions)
So that you can truly surf the internet anonymously, the connection of your device/computer to the internet must not involve the internet service provider you are using. In this case, a public WiFi service can help. However, it is very important that you don't share your personal information over public networks if you don't want others to know/see it.
- Do not use public internet access points if you need to take private steps related to personal identity (eg banking activities or use of social security numbers). Even if you see a network open, make sure you know that it is legally available for the place in question. Hackers often create WiFi networks that look similar to existing ones in order to steal data. Even if the existing wireless network is legitimate or legal, someone with malicious intent could use equipment that can sniff all active traffic on the network.
- As a four layer solution you can try, hide or fake IP address, connect device/computer to public WiFi, connect device/computer to VPN service, and browse the internet using Tor browser.
Step 6. Use private/incognito mode on the browser
If you don't want others to know about your activity on the shared computer, use private/incognito mode on the browser. Almost all web browsers have a built-in browsing mode that prevents or blocks the saving of web browsing history and cache to the computer. The Chrome browser allows you to open a new “inkognito” window. Safari and Firefox allow you to open a “private” browser window, while Edge labels its private mode “In Private” mode.
Step 7. Use a privacy-focused alternative search engine
Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yandex store search entries entered along with your IP address (and account, if you have access to it). In addition, these search engines use cookies to track search engine usage and record the websites you visit. This information is collected and analyzed to more accurately target displayed ads and provide more relevant search results. To avoid this kind of tracking, use alternative privacy-focused search engines like DuckDuckGo or StartPage.
Step 8. Use a disposable email account or a privacy-friendly email service provider when creating accounts on websites
Make sure the email address created does not contain any personal information and is not tied to accounts that store personal information. Email service providers that claim to offer secure and privacy-friendly services include ProtonMail, Tutanota, and others.
- Some free email service providers that make it easy for you to create a new account quickly are Gmail and Yahoo Mail.
- Try Protonmail if you want to send emails that are encrypted, without including any personal details.
Tips
- Regardless of how much effort you put into covering your tracks, there will always be some information used to track and identify you. The purpose of using anonymity tools is to reduce the amount of information available, but because of the open nature of the internet, you can never be truly anonymous.
- When surfing the internet, you need to choose between convenience and anonymity. It's not easy to stay anonymous on the network and to be anonymized, it takes a lot of real effort. You'll have to deal with a much slower connection while browsing websites, and jump through more hoops before getting into the network. If anonymity is the most important thing to you, be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices.
