Anonymity in the twenty-first century is not about remaining at home alone and no one knowing what you’re doing; it’s all about your privacy on the Internet.
1. Make use of the Signal app.
Signal is without a doubt the best private encrypted messenger (no, it is not Telegram). The key feature is that it is a basic messenger with privacy and cryptography, and its encryption is excellent, far superior to anything else available. Of course, a powerful organization will detect your usage of signal, but there is nothing better or more beneficial for secret communication than it.
2. Make use of Tor (pretty easy to predict)
Tor is the world’s most popular and dominating browser, with incredible metadata resistance. For some reason, Tor does not provide complete anonymity, as some people believe, but it is still the best. The browser only works via TCP, and you can’t sign all of the sites from Tor because some of them ban access. Because it does not provide 100% performance, it is always used in dual or trial mode, such as VPN tunnels, although it is ideal for mobile.
3. Do not rely on VPNs for anonymity.
VPN does not provide anonymity. Yes, it is correct. It offers some good seasonal services, such as access to sites prohibited in your country or other relevant services when your access is blocked, but you still need to get there. It simply alters your IP address. For example, Tor distributes your traffic over tor nodes distributed throughout the internet. In contrast, VPN retranslates your data to their server, so your internet provider can still see what you’re doing, and you don’t alter anything on your end. And keep in mind that if VPN servers are hijacked, hackers will have access to all of your traffic.
4. If at all possible, employ zero-knowledge services.
Maybe you didn’t know, but all internet behemoths like Dropbox, Google, and Office 365 can read anything you save and write, and we know this from Snowden reports. Thus they work closely with the FBI. With these services, you have no privacy. You can encrypt anything before using these services, but zero-knowledge sites are preferable. SpiderOak (as a Dropbox replacement) and Protonmail (private email) are two examples; neither is a panacea, but they are far superior.
5. Think first, then post.
This is a fundamental but crucial step. Everything you’ve ever posted can be traced back to you and used against you, and it progresses from text posts to images, addresses, mobile phones, videos, date of birth, complete name, and so on. Do you want to remain anonymous? — Do not publish, do not use your real identity, do not use your personal information, and always keep control of what you are doing while surfing the internet.
6. Always double-check app permissions.
Apps usually seek permissions necessary for the app to function correctly, but occasionally they do unexpected things. They are constantly gathering information about you to construct large data collections – largely for advertising, but the FBI can readily obtain this information, as can any other smart individual. It’s amusing when a simple app (at first glance) requests your microphone, geolocation, or address book; best not use these apps; it’s difficult to stop all of these on IOS, so use Android.
7. Make use of an ad blocker.
You should use one of the available ad blockers. When you click on adverts, they collect data about you, your computer, browser, and other information that might be used against you; don’t give them that opportunity. Simply download an extension; there are a plethora of them.
8. Fire your housekeeper
Home assistants have been quite popular in recent years, but the primary issue is that they hear and collect everything you say and send it to their servers, which is a perfect crime. There’s nothing to argue about; don’t use it.
