How to Surf Anonymously [All You Need to Know]

Surfing the internet has had its dangers ever since it was created.

It has had its ups and downs, its crises and developments, and all that has happened to it over the years has made it into what it is today.

But how safe are you really online?

Well, as it turns out, not that much. There are many dangers out there, and most casual users don’t even know about some of them.

Your data and even your own identity can be lost to these threats.

So today, we are going to discuss these threats and dangers.

We will also see what you can do to surf anonymously online, and how to hide your internet activity completely.

Dangers of surfing the Internet

Surfing the web has brought a lot into our lives, and people have found a way to use it in the most imaginative ways.

However, not all of its aspects are so bright and positive, and there are still many dangers that you must watch out for.

There are dangerous viruses, trojans, and other types of malware around every corner.

At any given moment, someone somewhere is under hacking attack, whether they know it or not

Ransomware

Back in 2017, half the world was brought down to its knees by ransomware known as WannaCry.

Information leaks notify some very dangerous people about some very serious exploits, which opens an entire season of hacking attacks.

Phishing

Phishing attacks basically don’t even stop, ever. People are sending fake emails with malicious content, or are trying to trick receivers into giving away their sensitive data. And those are only the criminals.

Government surveillance

The governments of numerous countries are just as bad when it comes to the privacy and online security of a regular user.

They bring laws such as the NSA that force ISPs to record their users’ information. That data must be kept for a year, often even longer than that. It is then dissected and studied by government agencies.

Some ISPs are even selling this data by their own free will in order to earn more money.

They are not exactly giving it to just anyone, but instead, they give it to advertising companies. They won’t try to rob you or steal your identity, but they will bombard you with their ads and apps.

Censorship

Censorship laws and geo-restrictions are limiting your online reach more and more every year.

Depending on where you live, chances are that you will run into content that is not available in your country much more often than you used to.

Data retention

Not to mention the fact that even our search engines are noting all of our actions. Ever since it was made, Google was learning about it users. Chances are that it knows you better than any other company. It probably knows you even better than your own friends.

So with all of these dangers lurking out there, it should go without saying just how much anonymous web surfing matters. You will never be safe online unless you learn how to hide your internet activity, and how to browse without being tracked by ISP and endangered by other threats.

In order to teach you that, we will now explore some of the various methods of keeping your online actions private. Just keep reading, and by the time you are done, you will know exactly how to surf anonymously online.

How to achieve anonymous web surfing?

As you can see, there are many different reasons for you to seek web anonymity. There are also many different methods to achieve it.

So here and now, we will explore some of those methods, and see what they can do, what they can’t do, and what are your best options. Let us begin.

Browse in incognito mode

Opening your browser and surfing the web at home was working fine for you up until now. However, there was always an issue with the browsing history, especially if you share your computer with others.

The same goes if you use a public computer, and don’t want your browsing history to be recorded.

Luckily, pretty much all of the browsers offer an alternative, incognito window for you to use. If you activate it, none of your actions will remain on that device.

All of the cookies will end up either blocked or deleted and as far as anyone knows, you never had anything to do with it.

It is also a good idea to stop your browser from sending data regarding your location.

Almost all of them have this option as well, and you can find it in their settings. It is necessary to do this in order to hide your location unless you don’t mind constant tracking and supervision.

Search anonymously

Since Google likes keeping tabs on what you do, what interests you, and pretty much anything else about you, you might want to fight back.

One of the best ways to ensure that Google will stop recording your data is to stop using it altogether.

There are multiple anonymous search engines that work as more than decent alternatives. Using them will give you pretty much the same results, but also more anonymity.

The best one here is DuckDuckGo, and you won’t make a mistake if you give it a chance.

Of course, these and similar methods will only prevent Google from figuring you out.

And using incognito mode will help those who share your computer. But this is only one step in achieving anonymous web surfing.

You still need to learn how to browse without being tracked by ISP, your government, and its agencies, or even hackers.

In order to do that, you will need more than a simple incognito window.

You will need some extra tools that professionals use. However, don’t let that scare you since using them is nothing difficult or especially serious.

In fact, you will know everything about them by the time you finish reading this.

How to hide your internet activity from ISPs

There are several tools that you can use for hiding browsing activity, and we will now discuss three of them. Those are:

• Proxy Services
• Anonymous Browsers
• Virtual Private Networks.

Can you surf anonymously online with a proxy?

The answer here is both yes and no.

Proxies can provide you with a certain level of anonymity, that is true. You can use them for hiding or masking your IP address.

When you use them, your IP will lose every connection to your online actions.

Another great effect that proxies have is allowing you to access a lot of the forbidden online content.

This includes the content that was banned by your government, as well as the one that is geo-restricted.

The geo-restricted content is the one that online services and websites only allow in certain regions.

It all comes down to IP addresses because all of these blocks and restrictions are possible by blocking the addresses that belong to a certain region.

Or alternatively, only allow addresses that belong to other regions.

By hiding or changing your IP address, you make it impossible for websites and online services to scan your real location. Therefore, you can trick them into giving you access to content that you need.

What is also good about proxies is that they don’t affect your speed that much. Also, they mostly come as browser extensions, so setting them up is pretty easy and you can do it in no time.

It doesn’t matter if you have any sort of knowledge about computers, the Internet, or anything connected to this issue. You will still use any proxy without problems.

However, there are several downsides to using proxies.

For example, they only cover your browsers. That means that only part of your connection is covered in any way. The rest of it is still fully open and available for ISPs to scan and record.

Also, even that protection isn’t especially good, since proxies only hide your IP address and location.

They won’t encrypt any of your content, shield your data or hide it from view. It is important for you to know that, otherwise, you might develop a false sense of security if you use proxies.

Additionally, if your ISP notices that something even remotely suspicious is going on, they might focus their attention on you. If that happens, they will realize that you are using a proxy.

It is pretty easy for them to break through proxy defenses, and you will once again be under their watchful eye.

Still, if all you wish to do is access some forbidden content, or you are going on a trip and wish to stay in touch with your country’s private services, a proxy will do.

You can even use proxy websites. Those are special websites that you go to and use as a shield while you browse the internet.

On them, you will find a search field, and in it, you can type which website you want to visit.

The proxy will visit it for you, and the website will be aware that someone is using a proxy, but that is pretty much it that it will know.

So, all in all, proxies are decent as a short-term solution, but they simply can’t offer real protection. If you still wish to use them, we suggest Smartproxy.

How to browse without being tracked by ISP via Tor browser

Next, we have the Tor browser, which is the best of anonymous browsers.

It is actually a modified version of the well-known Firefox, and using it should come relatively easy for regular users.

Tor is one of the better solutions when it comes to truly anonymous web surfing, and it can help you hide your internet activity. It is completely free which is the first good thing about it.

The second one is the simplicity of the method it uses.

Basically, the Tor browser uses the anonymous Tor network. It is a volunteer network, and it works by sending all of your data from one relay to another.

It does this until every connection to you has been lost in the process. Only then will your data leave the network and return to you.

As you can tell, the process is not complicated. Unfortunately, it comes with one huge downside, and that is the impact on your internet speed.

Sending your entire data flow takes time and speed, and you will not suffer that much when it comes to regular browsing.

However, this method will make it completely impossible for you to use any streaming service, play online games via Tor, or download anything.

It also won’t protect your entire connection, so torrenting and other forms of P2P traffic are out as well.

So, is it worth it? That depends on what you need it for. The user is the one who has to decide this.

As far as our opinion goes, Tor is very useful for hiding your browsing activity and making your sessions private. Unfortunately, that is where its usefulness stops.

How to hide your Internet activity with Virtual Private Networks

Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, are our final option for achieving anonymous web surfing, and they also offer the most.

They do have an impact on your speed, but it is much smaller than the one that Tor has.

On the other hand, they also encrypt your data and add many protocols for protection, which makes them better than proxies too.

Not only that, but they offer tons of different features with that. Their main features are, of course, their large server networks, strong encryptions, and multiple security protocols.

Large server networks are important because the more server a VPN has, the more different IPs it can offer.

That allows you access to all of the blocked content, as we mentioned before. So the more countries a VPN touches, the better it is for its users.

Multiple protocols are also important. Thanks to them, your data has a shield that protects it from anyone who might want to view it.

Basically, VPNs create a secure tunnel that leads from your device and the internet. Everything that you do online will be hidden within the tunnel.

Even if a leak occurs, there are strong encryptions that protect your entire connection. Even if someone somehow manages to get some of your data, they still won’t know what they have.

And these are only the main features that pretty much every VPN has.

Of course, not every VPN can offer equally strong features, so it is very important to choose the best one.

What is the best VPN for you to surf anonymously online?

This can be a tricky question, especially since many different VPN providers have appeared in the last several years.

Because of the laws and legislations that multiple countries have brought recently, the VPN demands went through the roof.

Many saw the opportunity in this, and so hundreds of new providers appeared overnight.

And that is why you might have trouble when it comes to choosing the right one. We recommend a VPN called ExpressVPN.

With it, you won’t have any issues, and it will do the job perfectly. Let’s see what this VPN can offer.

ExpressVPN

The first thing that ExpressVPN likes to point out is its ability to protect your privacy. They claim that they will hide your data from spying eyes, and this is no empty claim.

This VPN has more than five million users around the world, and it has some of the best speeds on the market.

This makes it very good for streaming or torrenting since the speed is what matters for those activities.

It also offers multiple tunneling protocols, including OpenVPN and Lightway.

On top of it all, it has the strongest encryption (256-bit), and it doesn’t keep any logs.

It won’t record what you do, it won’t record even when you connect.

Even the payment details will remain hidden even from them. And when it comes to payment, this VPN offers some of the best prices.

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Read more:

• How to Hide Internet Activity from Your Employer

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Conclusion

The internet is a wonderful place for those who use it properly.

It is true that it can also hide many dangers, as well as restrictions. However, there are multiple ways of bypassing them, and now you have an explanation for the best of them.

Using incognito mode on your browser or an anonymous search engine can only help to a certain extent.

But to truly surf anonymously, you need to employ other tools, such as VPNs and proxies.