Over the past couple of months a number of people have asked me about the best way to browse the Internet privately, and how to retain at least a measure of anonymity when researching important and sometimes controversial information, in the face of increasing online surveillance and censorship.
So here’s my take on the subject…
Private Web Browsing Myths
- Privacy and Security are the SAME Thing – False
They are two completely different aspects of your computing and online activities.
Security is relevant to how well your computer, anti-virus software, and web browser are able to protect you against hackers, viruses, security vulnerabilities, and software exploits.
Privacy is all about how much information is gathered and made available about you and your activities online, both to big tech, and to governments.
Google Chrome is arguably the most secure of all mainstream web browsers, protecting you from a large variety of security threats and vulnerabilities. On the privacy-front, however, it is little more than a large scale data-collection tool that reports your online activities back to its masters in minutiae detail.
So when it comes down to trying to regain a measure of privacy online, don’t be dazzled by claims of “added security features, “anti-phishing filters,” or anything else that purports to make your browsing experience “safer.”
Such things never help to actually protect your actual privacy. - Browsing the Web in Incognito Mode GUARANTEES Privacy – False
Browsing in private/incognito mode merely prevents your browser from storing cookies, history, or passwords.
It does not stop your Internet Service Provider from logging all your “private” activities online or their selling of your data, indiscriminately, to anyone willing to pay for it.
Google and Microsoft also track much of your Internet usage, even in Incognito Mode. - Cookies are the Biggest Threat to your Online Privacy – False
While cookies have been turned into the Boogey Man in most people’s minds, they are “so last century” as a means of tracking your online activities. These days, device fingerprinting, tracking pixels¹, and myriad other clever ways exist, to identify you, even when you’re browsing in private/incognito mode.
¹ Tracking pixels are tiny, transparent image files, tagged with unique names/data that allows big tech to identify you when you return, or when you visit other sites using the same tracking system. For example, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and Threads all use the same tracking technology, which reports straight back to Zuck. The same applies to Google.
And lastly, any website that allows you to login with your Twitter, Facebook, or Google accounts, will send all your usage data straight to these companies. - VPNs and VPN Encryption completely Anonymizes your Online Activity – Partially False
Although a VPN will safeguard your online browsing privacy against your Internet Service Provider and encrypt data being sent to and received from websites you visit, it will not protect you against being tracked by tracking pixels and many of the more advanced tracking techniques.
In fact, used by themselves, without taking any other privacy measures, VPNs are little more than placebos, that make users feel better about gathering more sensitive information or about visiting sites they would not visit if they thought they were being tracked.
The NSA, GCHQ, and many other government intelligence agencies are also able to crack most VPN encryption in almost-real-time, so if they consider you important enough to surveil, a VPN is basically useless.
Although this all sounds exceedingly bleak, there are actually quite a few ways you can protect yourself and your “private” web browsing activities against prying eyes.
Using Mainstream Privacy Browsers
Most ordinary privacy conscious users will opt for either the Brave Browser or the DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser. However, neither of these options is particularly privacy-friendly, once you get under their hood.
Brave does have some out-of-the-box privacy features, but the browser does encourage the use of sites which employ advanced tracking methods, which it does not protect against by default. There are also many questions about the for-profit company behind Brave, and about its suspicious advertising scheme that supposedly does not track users.
The Brave Search search engine, by the same parent company, is becoming just as heavily censored as its mainstream competitors. This move toward open censorship by Brave Search has raised concerns that the company will also cave on user privacy.
DuckDuckGo has publicly admitted to censoring search results, and to engaging in a user-tracking agreement with Microsoft. Since DuckDuckGo’s sole selling points were “no censorship and no tracking,” they have TOTALLY violated their foundational principles. So don’t expect their Privacy Browser to actually safeguard you in any meaningful way.
Now I’ve destroyed your existing illusions about browsing privately online, let’s look at what you can actually do, as an ordinary user.
1. Use a Proper Privacy Browser
For ordinary, everyday Internet users such as ourselves, the journey to recapturing some of our online privacy starts with picking the right web browser App.
I’ve been using and testing various browsers since the release of FireFox¹ in 2002, and especially since the release of Google Chrome in 2008.
And believe it or not, there are actually some web browsers out there that take your privacy far more seriously than others, although you don’t tend to know about them, because it’s not in Big Brother’s interest to deal with an informed online population that knows how to protect itself against prying eyes.
Here are the four Web Browsers that live up to privacy claims, in my book:
- Epic
This is the best of the bunch, unless you’re committed to learning how to use Tor (covered below) properly.
Epic’s privacy features are impressive, right out of the box. For starters it does not create an “Installation ID².” It also prevents the “leaking” of your real IP address through VPNs and encrypted proxies, unlike many other so-called privacy browsers. Additionally, it stops websites you visit from tracking you through browser fingerprinting techniques which are commonly used these days. Check above for a full list.
For my money, Epic is the best balance between easy usability and proper online privacy protection. - SRWare Iron
Iron is another strong contender for ease-of-use and heavy-duty privacy features. Built on the open-source Chromium software, Iron has removed Google’s intrusive spying and reporting protocols, while retaining full functionality with all available Google Chrome add-ons.
So if you’re looking for a decent set of privacy protection features, coupled with the ability to use existing Chrome extensions, this is the right browser for you. - Iridium
This is basically a German-made variation of Iron. With near-identical privacy features, the German boffins have made it run somewhat faster than Iron, although you’re not likely to see much speed-difference between the two, as a normal user.
This is another solid choice for those of you used to running Chrome and looking to retain much of its functionality. - Tor
The undisputed King of Privacy Browsers. The Onion Routing Protocol (TOR) was developed by United States Naval Research Laboratory, to protect U.S Intelligence communications. Its principles got leaked/released and immediately picked up, developed, and expanded on by an enthusiastic crowd of global privacy enthusiasts. Nowadays Tor is used by a wide range of individuals and organizations, globally. Ironically enough, this includes some organizations the US Navy is actively fighting against.
Alas, Tor is not so much a web browser as it is an in-depth online privacy philosophy that requires considerable training and habit adjustments, for those who wish to wish to use it properly. It is mentioned here in case any of you want me to to put together a training course about this browser. If you want to know more about how Tor works and what it does, you can find a comprehensive guide by clicking here.
Disclosure: Such a training course would be a chargeable service, due to its complexity and duration.
All the above browsers also feature anti-tracking technology and ad-blockers by default, and all are available for download/installation on Windows, Macs, and Linux.
2. Learn to use Different Browsers and “Compartmentalize”
As I said previously, Google Chrome is easily one of the most secure web browsers out there, while being basically useless for privacy. Yet I still use it daily, for “ordinary searching,” for Gmail, professionally for work and research, for banking, for my crypto exchange, etc. The list goes on.
However, I will not let another tech giant anywhere near Google Chrome. For Twitter I use FireFox. It’s not very private and not very fast, but it’s plenty good enough for a Twitter account, as well as some slightly more sensitive searches, using Bing, DuckDuckGo, Swiss Cows, etc. for things I want to keep away from Google’s user profiling systems. Also, crucially, it prevents Twitter from spying on my Google activities, while also preventing Google from spying on my Twitter use.
Iron and Iridium are used for the more heavy-duty activities, like alternative, anonymous social accounts that are none of anyone’s business, anonymous Bitchute activity, and low-level off-the-grid searches and research that I do not want to be tracked by big tech or anyone else. I never log into any big tech accounts on either of these browsers
Tor doesn’t even live on the same computer as everything else. Like I said above, achieving true privacy with Tor requires considerable “adjustment” of one’s browsing habits, as well as a willingness to invest in some additional hardware and a desire to learn how (and where) to use it properly.
By simply using the same approach, and splitting/compartmentalizing your online activities between several privacy browsers, you’ll be able to fragment big tech’s picture of your daily online life considerably, while also keeping some parts of it off the Internet surveillance radar altogether, with comparatively little effort.
I’ll be detailing more ways to safeguard your online privacy and security against big tech and other bad actors, in the coming weeks and months. If there’s anything specific you’d like me to cover in more depth, contact me and I’ll put it on the list.
¹ Out of the box, Firefox is neither very private, nor very secure. It can be manually “hardened,” but this results in it eating even more memory and running even slower than it already does to begin with.
² Browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge create a unique installation ID, which can be used to uniquely identify you, even when you’re using VPNs or incognito browsing windows. All four of the above browsers prevent the creation of installation IDs by default.