Want to browse the web privately? Heres how to do it for real – Yahoo Tech

When it comes to browsing the Web without leaving a trail, there is a lot of noise out there. Advice varies from getting a VPN to disabling cookies, to utilizing the Private Browsing mode within the browser of your choice. But which of these tools actually work? And how do they work? The truth is, different tools prevent different kinds of tracking.

There are other methods, but these are the main tracking tools as of this writing. Knowing which privacy tools to use depends on which of these things youre concerned about. Lets go through all the different tools you can use to browse the Web privately, and go over what they do and dont do to protect your privacy.

What itdoes: Opens a new browser session that isnt signed into any accounts and doesntutilizecookies. Activity in private browsing mode is also not added to your browser history.

What itdoesnt do: Stop sites from tracking your IP address.

Your Web browser keeps track of every site you visit, and stores a complete list of those sites in your browser history. This can be a very useful tool for finding back websites youve visited, and its also used to populate the auto-suggestions you see every time you start typing a URL.

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Sometimes, however, you might want to browse the Web without your browser keeping track of all your activities. Thats where Private Browsing comes in.

This feature has different names on different browsers on Chrome, its called Incognito Mode, on Internet Explorer, its called InPrivate but acts basically the same on all of them. A new browser window opens, and none of your activity in that window is added to your browser history. Any accounts youre signed into in your other browser windows are not signed into in the Private Browsing window, meaning you cant be tracked as a user of those sites. And your cookies are not visible while using Private Browsing, meaning sites cannot track you this way.

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So, Private Browsing mode does quite a few things if you want to quickly browse the Web without being tracked by your accounts or by cookies. However, it does not obscure your IP address. Any site you visit can still keep a record of your IP address, which could, in turn, be used to identify you.

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What itdoes: Kindly asks sites if they will not track you.

What it doesnt do: Actually stop sites from tracking you.

Dig through your browsers settings and youll find the option to turn on something called Do Not Track. You might think that turning this on will prevent sites from tracking you entirely, but sadly, thats not the case.Do Not Track is something thats a great idea in theory, but one that hasnt worked well in practice.

The idea was to give browsers an optional setting where users could state that theyre not comfortable being tracked. Sites would agree not to track such users, giving users just a bit more control over their information.

Unfortunately, the list of sites that respect Do Not Trackis laughably small. Turning this feature on doesnt hurt in terms of hiding your identity, but it also wont help much.

ghostery-tracking-block

There are alternatives to Do Not Track that actually block trackers, the most famous of which areGhosteryandPrivacy Badger. These are browser extensions that show you which services are tracking your Web traffic on any given page, and give you the power to block trackers at will.

What theydo: Obscure your IP address and encrypt your traffic.

What they dont (necessarily) do: Stop your traffic from being logged by the VPN itself, or by any sites youre signed into. Stop you from being tracked by cookies, user accounts, or your user agent string.

You cant use the Web without an IP address, as sites would not know where to send the information you request, thus breaking your Internet connection. That said,you can obscure your IP address using a VPN service. AVPN, or Virtual Private Network, routes all of your Internet through another computer. This means that, so far as the sites you visit are concerned, your IP is that of your VPN. Because thousands of other VPN users are also using the same IP address, anyone trying to trace your activity cant do so using your IP alone.

This isnt a solution to all potential tracking, however. If youre logged into Google, for example, that company will be able to track your activity using your account. Furthermore, using a VPN does nothing to protect you from being tracked by cookies, or your user agent string.

Its also worth noting that not all VPNs are created equal. Some have publicly committed to not keeping logs of their users activity, while others have not. There have also been security problems that have revealed useridentities on more than a few major VPNs.

Some easy-to-use services that currently have strong security reputations includeNordVPNandPrivate Internet Access, but ultimately its up to each user to decide which services they trust. Do your homework before routing all of your traffic through any of these services.

What itdoes: Routes your traffic through other users computers.

What it doesnt do: Keep you anonymousoutside the TOR browser.

Using a VPN is just one option for obscuring your IP address.TOR is another. Theservice encrypts your traffic, and your IP address, before routing it through three randomly selected exit nodes. Everything is also re-encrypted at every step, making it nearly impossible for your Web traffic to be traced.

To get started, youll need todownload the TOR browser, which is a modified version of Firefox. Use the browser when you want to avoid being tracked by your IP address.

Government agencies and hackers have occasionally managed to trace someones traffic over TOR, but so far, the problem has usually turned out to be related to user activity. For this reason, TOR also recommends that you do the following.

Using TOR to browse the Web is probably the simplest way to ensure your security, particularly if you only use it in situations when security is a must. There are ways your traffic can be traced through it, but that usually boils down to user error. Its probably a good idea to only use TOR when its important to be anonymous, and use another browser for day-to-day computing.

As you can tell, there are many different ways you can keep yourself anonymous if you combine the proper tools.Here are just a few examples:

Any of these setups can go a long way toward making your Web activitiescompletely anonymous.

Of course, theres always more you can do. For example, you could switch from Google which famously tracks your search activity to DuckDuckGo, which doesnt. Moreover, if youre using an unencrypted Wi-Fi connection, anyone nearby can sniff out your traffic and get a very good idea of what youre up to online. Make sure your router is set up to encrypt your traffic, and be sure to browse only through a VPN when you must use an unencrypted connection.

The Internet was never designed for anonymous usage, which makesstayinganonymous online a good dealof work. The above tools are a great starting point, but remaininganonymous in the long termdepends on whether you keep up with the latest security news and ensure your software is up to date.Good luck, and stay safe out there!

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Want to browse the web privately? Heres how to do it for real - Yahoo Tech