How to Stay Anonymous Online in 2019 – Seven Best Tips

Since we spend the vast majority of our day on our devices using the Internet, it’s safe to say that our privacy is no longer private. From Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and cybercriminals to governments and advertisers, third-parties are watching and logging your every move online, leaving you with no other option but to become anonymous.

If you want to keep your personal data protected from questionable collection practices, you’ve come just to the right place. In the following paragraphs, we’ll highlight seven effective ways to strengthen your anonymity online. After taking the suggested steps, you’ll be able to enjoy the open Internet without constantly looking over your shoulder.

Without further ado, let’s get started:

1. Hide Your IP Address with a VPN

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is what identifies you on the Internet, so it can be used to determine where you’re located and what you’re up to online. As such, using a VPN to hide your IP address makes complete sense.

By investing in a reliable VPN service such as PureVPN, you can instantly replace your original IP address with one of its 300,000+ anonymous IPs. This allows you to conceal your online activities from any prying eyes.

Moreover, with features like AES 256-bit encryption, Internet kill switch, and WebRTC leak protection, you can rest assured that your online identity will remain protected at all times. So, download VPN now and browse anonymously!


Illustration: Freepik

2. Disable Third-Party Cookies

Third-party cookies are primarily used for collecting information on user behavior across multiple websites. They are placed on your device not by the website you’re visiting, but rather by third-parties such as advertisers.

These types of cookies enable advertisers to create profiles of users without their knowledge and display ads based on their interests. While some people might not mind targeted advertisements, for others, they’re a serious threat to their privacy. For this reason, you’re better of blocking third-party cookies from your browser’s privacy settings.

3. Install HTTPS Everywhere

When we’re browsing the Internet, we often visit websites without paying attention as to whether they’re HTTP or HTTPS. Did you know that third-parties can easily snoop on your traffic to see everything you do online?

HTTP websites are far from safe and open to interception, posing a real risk to your sensitive data like passwords. These days most websites support HTTPS, but not all of them, and this is precisely where HTTPS Everywhere can help.

The browser extension, which is available on Opera, Firefox, and Chrome, enforces HTTPS connections wherever possible. With the connection between your browser and website encrypted, you can be sure that your important traffic will always stay private.

4. Use a Private Search Engine

Most of us rely on search engines such as Google or Yahoo for answers to all our questions. But given that these companies collect personal information about millions of their users, they aren’t exactly the best option if you want to browse with a cloak of anonymity.

Not only do they record your originating IP address but also your search history is tracked – among various other things! They then make use of this information to build an advertising profile of you and display highly relevant ads.

Fortunately, there’s a way to make your web searches totally private. By using search engines geared towards privacy like DuckDuckGo, you can avoid this tracking and search without ads following you around wherever you go.

5. Switch to a Secure Browser

You can’t enjoy the benefits of online anonymity unless you’re prepared to make drastic changes, and your browser is one of the best places to start. It’s the main program you use for accessing the World Wide Web, and switching to a more secure option will go a long way in keeping you anonymous.

Simply enabling private browsing or incognito mode isn’t enough – it will only prevent your browsing history from being stored on your computer! You need to download a secure browser like Epic, which will stop search engines and other entities from tracking you.

If you aren’t ready to give up your preferred browser, you also have the option of optimizing your browser’s privacy settings to limit companies from tracking your online activities and make your browsing sessions more anonymous.

6. Don’t Overshare on Social Media

Keeping off social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is an impossible task in this day and age. Nevertheless, if you’re signing up, you should at least practice caution – you wouldn’t want someone you don’t know to have access to your personal information!

So, when you’re using social media, don’t forget to avoid posting things such as your phone number, date of birth, physical address, and middle name. Moreover, never share any sensitive information that could result in your identity getting stolen.

7. Sign Up for an Encrypted Email Account

Email surveillance is a big deal, and it mostly happens without your knowledge, giving the government access to your emails and their contents. And as if that wasn’t enough, information from your emails is mined by some free email services to server you targeted ads.

If you want to secure your email communications, then your best bet is to use an encrypted email service such as Tutanota. Not only will you get end-to-end encryption, but also you’ll have a plethora of other interesting features.

Wrapping Things Up

Even though using the Internet is going to endanger your anonymity, you can safeguard most of your personal data by taking the measures we’ve discussed above.

Remember, a VPN is the most important tool when it comes to protecting your privacy and anonymity online – it provides IP address masking and top-notch encryption to keep your identity hidden!

What are you doing to stay anonymous and invisible online? Let us know in the comments section!
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