Maintaining Privacy and anonymity online is very difficult, but there are some basic rules you can follow to significantly reduce the information the Internet knows about you.

In his report published by Wired, Writer Matt Burgess said: Everyone on the Internet wants to get to know you, as websites constantly ask for your email address or try to place tracking cookies on your devices, and a mysterious group of advertisers and technology companies Tracks the websites you visit, predicts your interests and what you might want to buy; Search engines, browsers, and apps can record every search or scroll you do.

The writer stated that at this stage of the Internet, it is very difficult to achieve complete anonymity throughout your life online, as you use phones, ID cards, browsers, wireless networks, and more identifiers that can be linked to your activity, but there are steps you can take to hide your identity during daily browsing.

Block trackers

The writer attributed the reason for continuing to track you online to the advertising industry and technology companies that rely heavily on ads to make money, such as Google and Meta. Invisible Trackers and cookies embedded in websites and apps can follow you across the web.

The writer advises starting with your web browser, ideally; You want to block invisible trackers and ads that have built-in tracking technology, as advertisers can also track you using fingerprinting, a deceptive method of identifying files where your browser and device settings (such as language, screen size, and many other details) are used to identify you.

If you want to know how your current browser is tracking you, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Track Tracking Tool can; Run real-time testing on your system.

The writer explained that for maximum anonymity, the Tor browser is the best, and it can be downloaded in the same way as any other browser. It encrypts your traffic by sending it through a number of servers and also deploys anti-censorship and anti-fingerprinting measures. and other privacy measures.

However, due to the advanced protections it provides, Tor Browser can sometimes be slower than other browsers. Many privacy-focused browsers, such as Firefox, Molvad, and Brave, offer enhanced protection against trackers and offer more customizable privacy settings.

And if you don't want to switch browsers; There are some browser extensions that can block trackers within Chrome. The Cyber ​​Frontier Foundation's Ghostry and Privacy Badger extensions will both block trackers, with the latter not blocking ads unless they're specifically tracking you.

On Walmart's homepage, while using Chrome for example, Privacy Badger blocked four trackers that were in use, while Gostry identified five.

And outside the web; Trackers embedded in your mobile applications can collect data about your activity. On the Android system; You must turn off personalized ads through Google My Ad Center, simply toggle the setting to off.

Also delete your device's advertising ID by going to Settings, Privacy & Ads and clicking on the Delete Advertising ID option. There are also Android apps that will block cross-app trackers, such as DuckDuckGo or Tracker Control developed by the University of Oxford. If you are using iOS; Go to Settings, Privacy, Security & Tracking, and turn off Allow apps to request tracking to prevent apps from tracking you across apps and websites.

The writer pointed out that a VPN may be useful for some people to stop their Internet service provider from knowing their web traffic. However, VPNs can see your online activity, and in some cases Keeping records of it, many of which is a problem. We have Molvad's own VPN, which is open source and accepts cash payments via mail to its offices in Sweden.

Choose the most private option

The writer said that every application, website, and service you use is likely to collect some data about you, but some collect more than others, and that is why choosing services that do not intentionally collect information about you or that use full encryption, which prevents companies from seeing the contents of your communications or operations. Data transfer; It can help limit your exposure to the web. In general, avoid big tech companies.

As for messaging applications; Signal collects very little information about who uses it and is encrypted by default, meaning it cannot see the contents of the messages you send. For search, DuckDuckGo, Brave, Kaji, StartPage, and Mogic are the report's author's picks among the most privacy-friendly search engines.

As for email; Proton and Tuta (formerly known as Tutanota) offer free end-to-end encryption options. OnionShare uses the Tor network to let you share files anonymously, ProtonDrive provides pointed storage for online files, and Apple's advanced data protection settings allow for end-to-end iCloud storage encryption once enabled.

And if you use a laptop or phone for work, it's also worth keeping in mind that your employer can likely see most – if not all – of the things you do on those devices. If you are looking for a new job or doing personal tasks; You'll likely want to do it on personal devices.

Check what you post

The writer says that to become anonymous online is largely related to your mentality. Simply; The less you share information about yourself online, the less you will be recognized, and this means being careful about what you post on social media, and not sharing information that could identify you, your location, or others around you.

There are also steps you can take to try to remove yourself from the Internet, including opting out of data brokers who buy and sell information about you, updating old websites and removing information from Google searches, and deleting old social media posts and accounts that you no longer use.

These steps can take a lot of work, especially if you're delving into old social media accounts, but doing them even a little at a time can help.

Burning after use

The writer suggested using one-time accounts or masked identities for specific purposes in your life, and if you need a messaging account that is not linked to your current phone number; It may be helpful to think about a separate phone and ID card that you can use for this specific purpose.

The writer mentioned that it has also become easier in recent years to hide your email address from the websites and services you have registered for; Apple's Hide Your Email tool keeps your main email address private and creates a random email address when you sign up for a new service.

If you're paying for an iCloud Plus subscription, the tool can generate email addresses on demand in the Settings app. Likewise, Firefox Relay, which is free to use, can create email addresses for you that are directed to your main inbox.

Take it to a higher level

The writer stressed that it is very difficult to be completely anonymous online, and the level of anonymity you need will depend on the reason you are trying to remain anonymous. In addition to what we've mentioned here (and how paranoid you are), there are more advanced steps you can take.

It may be helpful to consider an operating system for your phone or computer that focuses on privacy and anonymity. The operating system includes extensions that you need to install and run from the bus console every time you use it, Tor, UnionShare, and many other tools that you can use on your computer. For Android devices, Graphene OS is an open source operating system that removes Android elements associated with Google and focuses on privacy.

The writer concluded by saying: There are also a number of strict security measures that you can take if you want to further enhance your digital life without going through everything that is required to be anonymous online.