Topic: [Tips and Information] Privacy and How to Stay Anonymous Online (Read 870 times)

VPN is a must as a first layer of protection but thinking it is enough is a common mistake.

if you're googling something logged in your account it is already not private.
if you use the same email in more than one website
if you don't use an adblock and allow cookies on your browser it'll also track you for target ads (which can be usefull but can also be scary).

of course, most of the people dont need deep level of protection but those who work on activism, as an example, should really protect themselves, we know what government can do with people that question their shady activities.

Tor is created to improve privacy. If you care about your privacy, use Tor when you web-surf. Dark web or white web, you should use Tor for your privacy. Assume you have bitcoin, and make a transaction and want to check its confirmations, you should check it with Tor.

You don't know that the explorer you use to check transaction confirmations will use your data for their analyses or will sell their data to others. Your privacy will be lower if you don't use Tor.

TOR BROWSER may be best for access dark web I think tor browser something risky for new general  but tor is the best access Anonymous on Online,when general user access tor firstly faced new some off problem. your information is very useful.
i thing best way tor installed pen-drive,hardisk or portable devices.

Thank you for the information you collected for us. We see many people getting hacked these days and these privacy measures are absolutely needed. I use Metamask to keep my wallet safe and use reliable VPNs. I don't know much about security but all I can do is those things.

The whole point of using an obfs4 pluggable transport is to protect your traffic from deep packet inspection, so using one replaces the need for a VPN if your goal is to hide your Tor usage from your ISP.

Obviously there are other uses for a VPN which may mean you want to continue using one with Tor (as long as you connect to the VPN first and never use the VPN as an exit node), and so yeah I guess using an obfs4 bridge in this case would hide your Tor usage from your VPN provider. But if you are worried about hiding Tor from your VPN provider, then you are obviously concerned that your VPN provider is both spying on your traffic and keeping logs, in which case you should be changing provider.

IMHO, first comes VPN  to hide TOR from ISP provider's DPI (if any), then TOR +  obfsproxy to hide TOR from DPI  , if any, of  VPN  service. In this case entry node   is determined by TOR  network but not VPN. The last creates the channel to reach TOR.

Rooting or jailbreaking your device won't make your smartphone not tracktable. It only open possibility to disable feature which could invade your privacy or limit what an application could do.

Even so, you can't prevent tracking from cell tower triangulation.


Me either. Since the ISP could detect you based on known entry node IP, one could use unlisted/private Tor Bridge with pluggable transports

Using a VPN and Tor together can actually make your privacy worse in some circumstances, not better. Your VPN server essentially becomes a fixed entry node or exit node to the Tor network, depending on whether you connect to the VPN first then Tor, or route through the Tor network to reach your VPN server.

Connecting to your VPN first and then to Tor will certainly hide the fact you are using Tor as we have discussed above, but the same is possible with pluggable transports. This set up is fine if you fully trust your VPN provider not to be keeping logs, but otherwise provides little benefit over Tor alone. Obviously you should still be using a VPN at all times whenever you connect to any public wifi.

Using Tor to reach your VPN server is a terrible idea and completely negates the entire point of Tor. You are giving a single entity (your VPN provider) access to all your traffic, which they could link back to you via traceable payment methods or previous IP addresses logged (if they keep logs) against your account.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't see any benefit to using both a VPN and an obfsproxy bridge simultaneously to connect to Tor, unless for some reason you wanted to hide the fact you were using Tor from your VPN provider?

Right, pluggable transports are good to obfuscate Tor traffic and in fact they are delivered by 3-rd parties proxies. IMHO, VPN + TOR + obfsproxy is the best bundle for both security and privacy.

Rooting or jailbreaking can make our smartphone non trackable but it leads our device is easily hackable so its only for the pro users not for the normal users.

In my opinion to stay anonymous you must not use any site that requires you to input your personal information such as name, last name and more. Not all VPN will do as what you have told it can do and that is why you must carefully choose the right VPN to do the job for you and stay anonymous as possible.

Proxy servers are good for bypassing censorship, but do very little for security or privacy and also don't reliably hide the fact you are using Tor. If you want to use Tor without it being obvious, then you should look in to Tor bridges with pluggable transports.

For most users, yes, but you can quite happily root a smartphone and install an open source OS on it such as GrapheneOS or Ubuntu Touch, along with a non-google app store such as F-Droid. It's perfectly possible to de-google all your devices (and for free), you just need to have the motivation to do so.

I thought this is not only about crypto activities,yes I am aware of that an I am using a separate laptop for crypto related activities and using wallet which don't have any other files,browsers and unnecessary tracking things.

But when we talk about our privacy in general its already stolen by android and IOS devices,if we want to keep privacy in future then better go to the mobile devices where we only used for making calls and recieving calls.

It cuts both ways, users who use TOR may be suspected of illegal activities and attract the interest of security agencies. From where I sit,TOR traffic should be hidden from DIP via relevant proxies, arguably Shadowsocks is the best of them.

VPNs don't make you anonymous. Your VPN provider will still be able to see your true IP and all your traffic, and there is no way to be 100% sure that your VPN provider isn't keeping logs. If you have paid for your VPN with a traceable form of money (bitcoins which have been linked to your identity or any type of fiat), then you could be complete de-anonymized and have all your internet activity linked to your real identity.

VPNs are great for a variety of reasons, and I use one a lot of the time, but if you want to be anonymous then you need to be looking at Tor.

I think easiest and common solution for basic anonymity over web is to use VPN, for more secure connection we can try establish connection via few VPNs, anonymity will be really good, just transfer will be limited and connection slow. 
For beginners I would recommend some very simple VPN like NordVPN - it cost just 3,5 USD per month other simple are expressVPN, cyberghost or hidemyass. I dont recommend free pseudo VPNs via web, that's not VPNs

Did some initial review and found out alarming things just like what you've stated, except for ads targeting since i have adblocking extensions installed.
Nevertheless, I think its time to ditch Opera for VPN browsing and would instead use again ssh tunneling for the mean time.

Lol. I get your point. I think its time to find out better alternatives and I'm also considering subscribing to paid VPN service instead.

No, it doesn't. It probably makes your privacy worse. Instead of all your traffic simply going through your ISP, you are instead routing all your traffic through Opera's server. They openly admit that they monitor it all, keep logs, pass that data to advertisers, and use it to target you with ads. You'd be better off not using it all.

Sure, but not being able to achieve 100% safety isn't a reason to expose yourself to unncessary risk. Would you drive with no seatbelt just because you can't be 100% sure you wouldn't die in a crash anyway?

Good. Stop uploading things. Stop using social media altogether. It is a massive invasion of privacy. If you absolutely can't resist the urge to post stupid selfies and pictures of your food, then do so from a dedicated device that is not linked to any of your crypto activities.

Yes we can disable their permissions but for using an app like facebook and instagram we have to give those permissions or else we can't upload anything,so we can be able to hide from being spying when we want to use apps which are available at free of cost.

Thanks for sharing this info. I guess that is more likely the case but at least it gives us an enhanced privacy as compared to using a normal browser without VPN. I think its time for me to find other alternatives and reassess my security setup.

Its a matter of convenience for me on why I prefer a TOR enabled Brave browser as I see Brave has other features not found in a TOR browser. Afterall, I understand no one is 100 percent safe even with the best security setup on their systems.

Oh sure. I had assumed he was already running a VPN since he had mentioned it further up in his comment, which would have encrypted his data against that kind of attack already. But yeah, I take your point.

Yeah, you're right but apps will ask you first if you want to allow them to use your camera, file and etc... or not. Some apps can be able to use without allowing them but some are not.



You can always disable them in settings if you doubt someone controlling your SmartPhone with some apps.
I always disable them to make sure my phone files and front camera safe and use a fake GPS app(I use this before in Pokemo GO to make a fake location)
Or use your Smartphone offline and never connect it to the internet.


That is why I recommend making a custom socks5 IP than VPN to make sure no one tracking your activity. Tor is a good option they masking your wan IP 3x to 5x but the browsing activity is slow and javascript is disabled. It is good only if you actually hiding your IP and access only supported websites because most websites block tor browsers from accessing the site.
So if you want to browse look normally my list is a great tool to browse anonymously I don't compare them with tor and I always have a problem using TOR when making accounts with bing ads before they always detected that I'm using TOR so I stop using them.

Spending more time to find the same - a little misunderstanding we got here. I don't want to google give me the results i know he will give, because of my search history. Sometimes anonymous browser gives broader search and that's what i'm looking for, to know the topic i search for better.

Wrong. With HTTPS, passive attack (e.g, ISP and anyone who's on your network) won't able to see what data you send to a server.

All they can get is metadata (IP destination, DNS request, packet size, etc.)

Opera's free VPN, like all VPNs, is a poor choice. It's not even really a VPN, just a proxy. They collect all your traffic and data, keep logs, and use it to serve you targeted ads: https://www.opera.com/privacy. Have a read of this: https://thatoneprivacysite.net/blog/operas-baked-in-vpn-is-not-a-good-solution-for-your-privacy/

There is no such thing as a truly free VPN. If it is free, then you are the product. As I said above, companies which provide free VPNs are making there money from selling your data, and this makes you less private, not more.

Why would you use a Tor plug-in in a browser with poor security which lies about being privacy focused, when you could just cut out the middle-man and use the Tor browser?

With regards to VPN use, I would like to mention Opera Browser which offers a free and user friendly way to connect through VPN. But if we want to use varied VPN servers, then Avast Secure Line VPN would do the trick but it is on a paid subscription.

With regards to TOR use, Brave Browser has also a built in feature that would allow us to browse via TOR.

There's some good info in your post OP, but there's also a few mistakes which you should edit. Browsing in incognito mode does nothing to protect your privacy, as other users have noted. You shouldn't just use anonymous emails, but you should use separate email addresses for separate purposes, and use encrypted and privacy-respecting email providers such as ProtonMail. DuckDuckGo is a search engine, not a proxy or a VPN, and so does nothing to hide your IP. Free VPNs are poor recommendations since the companies are making their money from your data - they make you less private, not more.

If you are going to use a VPN, then you should pay for a good one. Look here (https://thatoneprivacysite.net/#simple-vpn-comparison) and here (https://www.privacytools.io/providers/vpn/).

DDG will return results in a fraction of a second, just like Google. My VPN reduces my internet speeds by around 2%, so it isn't noticeable in any way.

Most recent comparisons now put Firefox as faster and less resource intensive than Google Chrome, with all the added benefits of increased security and privacy. Google Chrome is spyware.

HTTPS Everywhere. But this is a security improvement - it does nothing for your privacy.

Everything you've listed still isn't enough to make you anonymous online. Your VPN provider can still see all your traffic and your real IP. If you really want anonymity, then you need to be looking at Tor.

DNS leak could also result in privacy compromising and not every VPN service provider prevent it.  To be on safe side direct you routers to DNS servers that block DNS leak, CloudFlare DNS is known to be the best one of them. https://www.dnsleaktest.com/ may help to check whether you are vulnerable or not.

Incognito mode helps you to keep your browsing private from other users of the same device - it doesn't help much against sites, internet service providers, government, etc. Cookies is just one tool that those parties use against you, and they can easily track you without it. You've covered topics like VPN and ToR, but there's another set of tools that increases privacy - browser extensions. Extensions like Canvas Blocker, Privacy Badger, NoScript help you disable many of the tracking done by websites.

Reduced internet speed and some sites restricted access via tor browser,other than this no cons with using TOR browser.But we have to think that we really need TOR for doing certain things like login to your own social media account or going to watch online videos.

I have tried to try a few things so that the privacy of my online activities remains anonymous, some say using VPN but also giving a warning not to use VPN when opening social media or all kinds of website related to crypto accounts. Currently I use TOR Browser and Duckduckgo search enginee for my online activities (but not using it for exchange account and social media), I still learning about this, what is the disadvantage using TOR?

Not only our location,our cameras,gallery,file manager and everything can be controlled by someone remotely because we gave them the access to do while installing an app whether its from app market or private sites,so we are not having any privacy as we think.

There is no problem in comment something relevant in a thread. You will not be tagged.

Rules exists to prevent abuse, not to change legit user's behaviour.

If you were commenting something useless in a deal useless megathread it would be necroposting.

Anyway, too much poff topic already. But I think this post was necessary.

On topic: I just bumped it,you can comment now without fear

You also made a well detailed thread and I love it, and I merited it also Would have dropped a comment but it would be tagged for necroposting.
Let's not go off-topic here.

VPN is not enough to make your PC anonymous. They actually have logs for your traffic so you need extra tools to make your browsing anonymous.
Most of the VPN right now can easily be detected if you are using a VPN or not so if you want to protect your self from tracking and retrieving your PC information you need to use extra tools just like what I use below.

- WebRTC
- UserAgent Spoofer
- Mac Changer
- Use VPN with residential IP or create Socks IPs.
- Any blocker like ads blocker, trace or track blocker
- HTTP everywhere.
- enable "Do not track" under browser settings.
- Use VPS and do all of your activity there with the tools above.

If you have these tools even you are browsing to any search engine mention above you are safe.

I don't agree on using proxies it always depends on what proxies you use if you are using free proxies you will experience drop on speed but if you are using dedicatd high quality proxy your browsing activity is fine.

For Exchanges if you are going to trade and they have terms about the IP better don't use VPN but most of the exchanges right now requires KYC so even with or without VPN is fine.

SmartPhone is a different case since it is our personal thing and use it for everyday life smartphone has feature to trace the location of the phone powered by Google. But you can still become anonymous with SmartPhone just disable any tracking apps like FindMyIphone or FindMyDevices for android.

As long as they function within the ambits of the privacy policy, it wouldn't be a problem. User information can be used for analytics purposes and also to track user behavior. But left unchecked this websites and social medias can use such information to adverse effect. The information is our of youe hands, and a leak, or deliberate breach could lead to the spread of such data among the wrong hands.
I would much rather safety than efficiency.

I made a Topic similar to yours a few time ago
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/lets-talk-about-privacy-3210982

Your topic is very complete, I would just add browser recommendations (Firefox all the way imo) and its add-ons.

Take a look at mine, you will like it

I made another one specially for Firefox

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5156114.0;all

So which got more efficiency here,google knew what you want but while browsing anonymous browsers we may have to spend more time for finding the same,I am not encourage their spying behaviour on every user but at least it won't be a problem for most people.
Even on my fast 4G network the browsing speed on TOR is in KB/s so there is huge difference in speed,so we have to choose fiber optic connections for better speed but its not available for everyone.

Not everyone will choose to pay for their privacy,they will find something free but will end up messing the things.

The speed decreases depending on the type of network carrier you use for browsing. And that's not even a problem because it's just like a little price you pay for your privacy.

Nord VPN offers dedicated IP to its premium users at a cheap price, I don't think that's a problem.

Well, but maybe I don't want to Google spy me all the time, so I'm not using it daily. When it comes to efficiency of web browser - it's true, most probably anonymous browsers won't be as fast as those spying ones, but there isn't a massive difference between their efficiency. Also - Google browser adjusts it's results to your previous searches, it bases on a profile of you as a user, so the results of searching will be repetitive and not as wide as in anonymous browser.

For anyone there is no need to stay anonymous all the time,when we are doing some daily routine things then google or bing will be the better solution since it has better speed than anonymous search engines and also the speed will decrease a lot when we connect into proxies.

Remember the risks of connecting to proxy address when sign into exchange or gambling sites,you account is in risk of getting frozen for the multiple login from the same IP address which violates their terms and conditions.

And one more no one is completely anonymous since we had smartphone in our hand.

While it's not directly related to stay anonymous online, people who need anonymity/privacy shouldn't use Windows OS, OS based on Linux is the only choice.


It only give privacy against people who might use your computer. Even if you use Incognito Mode, website can track you easily due to unique browser fingerprint.


Good suggestion, but people should beware that :
1. Not all email, messaging, proxy and VPN provider who offer privacy/anonymity actually do it. Few VPN caught logging user's traffic and Telegram isn't encrypted by default.
2. If you don't change your surfing or browsing habit, someone could de-anonymize or track you, especially if you login to account with personal information when using Proxy, VPN or Tor.

In my opinion, it’s enough to buy a subscription to a good VPN, which does not save logs, and does not significantly reduce your speed, and of course it does not steal your traffic.
In addition, you can install the extension blocking ads and scripts in your browser. This will be quite enough to remain anonymous on the network, and at the same time have an easy and quick connection to the network.

We all know the importance of privacy, especially now in the digital world people share more information in their social media accounts every each of us can access and gather some information about someone or something,  in just a click of your mouse even though you don't know a thing about hacking, what most if the person that has knowledge in hacking gathers your information. Do you still consider yourself browsing anonymously on the web because maybe there's a person tracking every move you make and has every information you have?

Here are some Apps or Tools that can help you to stay anonymous.

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IP Address

-According to Wikipedia "IP Address is an Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two main functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing."
-Some of us don't know the importance of IP Address but you should be aware of it, Your IP Address gives the website that you visit and people that you have connected with online, It gives them the ability to trace that IP address back towards you if they wanted to. or to be exact they will know your location on the map.


VPN
-According to howtogeek "A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, allows you to create a secure connection to another network over the Internet. VPNs can be used to access region-restricted websites, shield your browsing activity from prying eyes on public Wi-Fi, and more."
-According to howtogeek "a VPN connects your PC, smartphone, or tablet to another computer (called a server) somewhere on the internet, and allows you to browse the internet using that computer’s internet connection. So if that server is in a different country, it will appear as if you are coming from that country, and you can potentially access things that you couldn’t normally."

Here are some Apps and Tips that I gather that will help you to keep your privacy secured.

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1.Browse in private or in Incognito Mode
-Incognito mode is not only for NSFW stuff and not only to hide your history but it also helps in preventing websites save cookies and disable the extensions that might steal your information.


2. Avoid Search Engines Like (Google, Yahoo and Bing)
Google, Bing, and Yahoo might be the three most popular search engines, but these search engines also collect the most data about you in order to serve relevant ads and personalize services. Especially when logged in with your account, these search engines can collect your name, email address, birthday, gender, and phone number and other personal informations . Asides from that, Google and Bing can also collect important data such as device location, device information, IP address, and cookie data, That can violate your privacy.


3. Use anonymous email and communication
-You can use other emails or dummy emails. You can use these emails if you don't want others to know that is you, don't use emails that may contain your real name, by these simple tips you can stay slightly anonymous online.
-And also avoid clicking on emails that you don't recognize or mostly spams, these spam emails might contain phishing sites that can gather your information such as name, birthday, credit card information, and other personal information.

4. Hide your IP address using Proxies and VPNs

• TOR BROWSER(https://www.torproject.org/download)
  
  - "Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy."
  -According to J.M. Porup "The Tor Browser is a web browser that anonymizes your web traffic using the Tor network, making it easy to protect your identity online."
• DuckDuckGo(https://duckduckgo.com/)
  
  -According to Wikipedia "DuckDuckGo is an internet search engine that emphasizes protecting searchers' privacy and avoiding the filter bubble of personalized search results. DuckDuckGo distinguishes itself from other search engines by not profiling its users and by showing all users the same search results for a given search term."
  -This is an awesome alternative for Google, Bing and Yahoo and it doesn't collect your data, provides privacy and gives safe searching.
• TunnelBear(https://www.tunnelbear.com/)
  
  -According to TunnelBear "TunnelBear is the world's easiest to use VPN (virtual private network) for both consumers and teams. ... TunnelBear can be used to protect you and your privacy, hide your real IP address, bypass internet censorship, and to experience the internet as people in other countries experience it."
  -The configuration of tunnelbear is idiot proof and it's very simple, and it can be used on any browser. It's probably the most accessible VPN tool there is and even paid or free version it's very accessible and has many features.
• Freenet(https://freenetproject.org/index.html)
  
  -According to Wikipedia "Freenet is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information and has a suite of free software for publishing and communicating on the Web without fear of censorship."
• I2P(https://geti2p.net/en/)
  
  -According to Wikipedia "The Invisible Internet Project is an anonymous network layer that allows for censorship-resistant, peer to peer communication. Anonymous connections are achieved by encrypting the user's traffic, and sending it through a volunteer-run network of roughly 55,000 computers distributed around the world."

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https://whatismyipaddress.com/find-me
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address
https://www.tunnelbear.com/
https://www.techradar.com/best/best-free-privacy-software
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-be-anonymous-online/
https://www.pcmag.com/article/250523/how-to-stay-anonymous-online
https://www.howtogeek.com/133680/htg-explains-what-is-a-vpn/
https://www.pcmag.com/article/365618/how-to-install-a-vpn-on-your-router
https://www.csoonline.com/article/3287653/what-is-the-tor-browser-how-it-works-and-how-it-can-help-you-protect-your-identity-online.html