How to surf anonymously

On the Internet, we have no face and no name. We are anonymous. But what does that really mean? Are we in fact anonymous when we surf the web? In reality, we leave a trail through many of the sites we frequent, and unknowingly submit to many different ‘surveys.’ We handicap our experiences online by allowing sites to cull information from our browsers. As we surf online, we cannot know who will use our information for the good of their website or who will leave it vulnerable to hacker attacks, harvesting, or worse.

Even for a trusting person, the multitude of sites on the Internet translates to a lot of unknowns. We do not know for sure if a site fetches information from our computer or if they allow it to go unnoticed. By installing locks, of a sort, we can guard against intrusion without hindering our online experience.

The sites we visit can learn much about us, including our browser version, operating system, sites we visit, how often we visit, IP address, and even our geographic location through studying our IP address. Most sites use this information to tailor their content to their readers. But not every site has those motives. If privacy matters, then we need to protect our information from simple intrusion.

Protect your privacy

Our online privacy can be maintained through solutions called proxy servers. These servers allow our online surfing experience to be funneled through their server. The proxy server takes our request to visit www.anywhere.com and directs it through their server rather than through our own. It acts as a middle-man for web surfing.

Also, websites like to make your experience with them memorable, so they may use what are called cookies to interact with you. Cookies are a small piece of code on your computer that communicates information to a website, like first name, date of last visit to the site, and more. This can be convenient because you may not have to login or provide your details each time you visit a site.

A browser’s search history can also be gleaned for information such as recently visited sites, the site that referred you to the one you are visiting, and more. To protect personal information, we need solutions that work well and are easy to setup.