Being completely anonymous is nearly impossible, but you may greatly minimise what the internet knows about you by following a few simple guidelines.

On the internet, everybody wants to know your identity. Websites are continuously asking for your email information and attempting to install tracking cookies across your devices. A muddy slurry of advertisers and technology corporations track the websites you visit, predicting your interests and potential purchases. Search engines, web browsers, and apps may track every search and scroll you perform. 

At this point in the internet’s evolution, remaining completely anonymous during your entire online existence is quite difficult. Phones, SIM cards, browsers, Wi-Fi networks, and other devices utilise unique identifiers that can be connected to your behavior. However, there are actions you may do to hide your identity while online. 

If you want to be anonymous or safeguard your privacy for a specific purpose (such as whistleblowing or activism), you need to think about your threat model and personal security situation. However, many of the modifications you can make, as described below, are simple swaps that can help you avoid being monitored as much and apply to the majority of individuals.

 

Get The Hunters Off Your Tracks

You are constantly being tracked online. The advertising business and software companies that rely heavily on advertising for revenue are frequently the primary culprits (think Google and Meta). Invisible trackers and cookies included in websites and apps can track your movements throughout the web.

Begin with your web browser. Ideally, you want to disable invisible trackers and adverts that contain tracking technology. Advertisers can also monitor you via fingerprinting, a stealthy profiling method that uses your browser and device settings (such as language, size of the screen, and other data) to identify you. If you want to see how your present-day browser follows you, use the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Cover Your Tracks application to perform a real-time test on your system. Chrome, the world’s most popular browser, does not disable tracking advertising or invisible trackers, and your browser has a distinctive fingerprint.

The Tor Browser provides the most anonymity. It encrypts your traffic before routing it across a variety of servers, and it also includes anti-censorship, anti-fingerprinting, and other privacy features. Tor, on the other hand, can be slower at times because to its advanced security features. Several privacy-focused browsers, including Firefox, the Mullvad Browser, and Brave, have greater tracker protection and more adjustable privacy settings.

If you don’t want to transfer browsers, you can use Chrome extensions to prevent trackers. Both the Ghostery addon and the EFF’s Privacy Badger will prevent trackers, however the latter will not stop adverts unless they specifically follow you. 

Choose Privacy – Always

Every app, web page, and service you use is going to collect some information about you; however, some collect more than others. Choosing services that purposely do not collect information about you or that utilise end-to-end encryption, which prevents firms from accessing the contents of your messages or information transfers, can help restrict your exposure to the internet. Generally, you should avoid Big Tech.

Signal gathers very little information on its users, and it is encrypted by default, so it cannot view the contents of messages you send. For searching, we recommend DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, Kagi, Startpage, and Mojeek as the most privacy-friendly search engines. For email, Proton and Tuta (previously Tutanota) offer free end-to-end encryption. OnionShare leverages the Tor network to enable anonymous file sharing. Proton Drive provides encrypted online file storage, and Apple’s enhanced data protection settings enable end-to-end encryption of iCloud storage.

 If you’re using a work laptop or phone, keep in mind that your employer can probably see most, if not all, of what you do on such devices. If you’re looking for a new job or completing personal activities, you’ll most likely want to do so on your own devices.

Be Careful With What You Share

Being more anonymous online is primarily determined by your mental state. Simply said, the less information you provide about yourself online, the less traceable you will be. That involves being cautious about what you publish on social media, and avoiding disclosing anything that could identify you, your location, or those around you.

For example, if you wish to create an account on social media that is not associated with your identity, do not include any names or personal information in the account name. You should also avoid signing up using your primary phone number, email address, physical address, or any other information that can be traced back to you. This is not limited to a new account; it should be applied to all of your online conduct.

You can also make efforts to try to remove yourself from the internet, such as opting out of data brokers that buy and sell information about you; updating old or outdated websites removing information from Google searches; and deleting old social media posts and accounts that you no longer use. These steps can be time-consuming, especially if you’re dealing with years-old social network accounts, but doing them gradually can assist.

Strategic Identity Management

In addition to being careful about what you share online, you can create one-time accounts or hidden identities for specific aspects of your life. If you desire a messaging account that is not linked to your existing phone number—phone numbers have become widespread means to identify people over time—it may be worthwhile to consider purchasing a different phone and SIM card for that purpose.

It has also been easier in recent years to conceal your email address from the services and websites that you sign up for. Apple’s Hide My Email function protects your primary email address and provides a random email address when you sign up for a new account. If you subscribe for an iCloud+ subscription, the Settings app allows you to construct email addresses on demand. Similarly, the Firefox Relay tool, which has a limited free usage period, can construct email addresses for you that are forwarded to your primary mailbox.

Take It Up a Notch

Being completely anonymous online is extremely difficult—and the level of anonymity required may vary depending on why you want to avoid being identified. Beyond what we’ve mentioned here (and depending on your level of paranoia), you can take more sophisticated actions.

Consider using a privacy-focused operating system on your phone or computer. Tor, OnionShare, and a variety of additional utilities are available in the Tails operating system, which must be installed and run from a USB stick each time it is used. GrapheneOS is an open-source operating system for Android devices that removes Google-related Android features and prioritises privacy.

There are also a lot of extreme security precautions you may take to harden your digital life without going as far as what is required for online anonymity. You can disable your gadgets’ microphones, scan for bugs, or utilise Faraday cages or air gaps to prevent them from connecting with the outside world. For the vast majority of people, however, this level of security may be more hassle than it is worth.