What would happen if we returned at the beginning of the 2000s? Late ’90s, maybe? Would we accept the fact of sharing practically all our data to organizations that in many cases violate our privacy? We think not. However, time has passed and technology has appropriated us to the point that our life is completely online and almost no data about us is 100% ours. However, it is possible to improve our privacy and anonymity status when surfing the Internet. Later, we will tell you how.
Use safer applications
One of the measures you can take to contribute to your own privacy and anonymity is the use of the Tor browser . As you browse the Internet, it is not possible for those who manufacture advertisements or third-party entities to track your activity and / or collect your data. At the end of your browsing session, both your browsing history and cookies will be deleted. Although all Tor benefits are not 100% guaranteed, it is an option that you should consider to improve the privacy and anonymity of your data. We all have the right to surf the Internet freely, anonymously and securely.
You can download the Tor browser for the best known operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux and also have the mobile version for Android. If you need an experience according to the language of your choice, you can download this browser in several languages as it is widely used worldwide.
On the other hand, the Signal application is an instant messaging app that at first glance looks like any other. You can send text messages, voice memos, files and all the usual activity. Although it has a caveat, an end-to-end encryption protocol that is fully integrated into the application and its daily use. Therefore, it will not be necessary to make any additional adjustment to start using this messaging service.
Keep in mind that privacy should not only focus on data, but on metadata. These, in turn, are sets of data that inform about other data. Metadata report even more sensitive things than the source data itself. That is the challenge of reaching a higher level of data encryption. That is, also manage to encrypt the metadata. Signal can be downloaded and accessed through Windows and Mac, then you can download it directly from the official Google Play stores and also in the iOS App Store:
VPNs do not contribute to privacy
This can be considered as one of the great myths of network security. The VPN not guarantee the anonymity of users who surf the Internet or any network through the VPN tunnel. So what does a virtual private network do? Take the connection you are having to a particular network and direct it so that all traffic passes through a server (the VPN server). That server is the one that acts as a tunnel, preventing people outside the tunnel from viewing the information. Consequently, those people who can have access to the tunnel, can monitor all the traffic that is being generated, so the critical point will always be the VPN server itself since it is the one that is responsible for encrypting / decrypting the tunnel traffic that It comes from the customer.
Application permissions and use of AdBlocker
In less than 5 minutes, we can realize that we are giving a lot of permissions to all the applications that we have installed on our mobile. Our location, the history of that location, contact books, photos, videos, camera, microphone, call log, calendars and body sensors, and let’s not forget all the types of files we can imagine. It is incredible that so much information can be shared with third parties almost without realizing it. We suggest reviewing the “Configuration” section and adjusting the application permission settings. We are sure that there will be more than one unnecessary permit that must be deactivated.
When we use a computer to surf the Internet, there are times when the number of ads that appear is somewhat high. In addition, it can be quite annoying if we are in the middle of important activities. Generally, they appear as pop-up windows or new windows in the browser that are generated suddenly. The applications that block these ads, better known as Ad Blockers , are an easy alternative to implement to avoid much of the ads we don’t want to see. As we have said, it is not the solution that completely avoids them, but to mitigate them is very helpful.
One of the options we recommend is Poper Blocker. It is aimed at preventing the appearance of pop-up windows and tabs that usually contain unwanted ads. It is an extension of the Google Chrome browser and if you are a user of it, you can access its installation below:
Do not trust attendees (Assistant, Alexa, Echo, etc.)
At the time, virtual assistants managed to gain prominence in the domestic products business. The best-known examples are Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Microsoft Cortana. However, these turned out to be an invasion without equal to the privacy and anonymity of our data, in addition to our life in general. Worst of all, there is no way to make this different, or at least a little less invasive.
As we have explained, being anonymous on the Internet is almost a dream. Applications and devices have the control to be able to track our movements, words, tastes, location and much more. It is in our hands to be able to carry out the actions mentioned above, with the aim of being able to mitigate the risks and enjoy a more anonymous, private and secure Internet connected experience.
