Internet Privacy Tips
Maintaining a high level of privacy while surfing the web isn't a straightforward task: It requires one to make certain ease-of-use sacrifices and changing aspects of how one goes about it. That said, if all you want to do is to limit your digital footprint, there's plenty of ways to do so. This article will go over a few of those ways.
Browser
Unsurprisingly, the browser you use will have a strong impact on the amount of data you leak to the multitude of corporations that's capitalizing on your information.
Firefox
In truth, you've probably heard of Firefox already, and furthermore, either you're already using it, or you're never going to switch to using it. However, I'd be remiss to not at least inform you about it.
You should be browsing with Firefox, or any if its alternative versions – not least because several of the extensions on this list are only available on there. Unlike Chrome, Firefox isn't maintained by a corporate entity which has every incentive to collect as much information about you as possible, nor does not phone home to the Gooqle HQ with every single last thing you do on the internet.
An alternative/derivative/patched version/whatever version of Firefox is LibreWolf. It removes much of the bloat that's in Firefox, as well as enhancing the baseline privacy level by enabling certain options by default.
Tor Browser
Grabbing the Tor Browser is also a great way to browse the web in private. You've probably heard of Tor before, but just in case you haven't, there's a slew of reasons why you'd want the browser installed. For one, you can surf the web completely uncensored, and untracked. Look through Tor's support pages, and optionally do a DDG search you'd like more information.
Chromium
If you absolutely have to have Gooqle's malware ridden piece of shit browser, then you should be looking at Chromium, or even better, the Ungoogled-Chromium browser on your desktop, or Bromite on your phone. Chromium is basically Chrome, but without a number of Gooqle's BS tracking shit, and the "Ungoogled" version patches away pretty much the rest of the tracking stuff from it; Bromite is pretty much that, but for your phone.
Add-ons
Now that you've hopefully got a proper, non-intrusive browser installed, you're going to want to have some "Add-ons" to help enhance your online privacy.
Firefox Add-ons
- NoScript
- uBlock Origin
- HTTPS Everywhere
- CanvasBlocker
- Firefox Multi-Account Containers
- Temporary Containers
- DecentralEyes
- ClearURLs
- Google Search Link Fix
Chrom(ium|e) Extensions
And while not necessarily a privacy addon, Bitwarden is a great alternative to the other online password managers. It's open source, audited, and you can self-host a server for it, unlike the other proprietary crap out there.
Search Engines
Switch to a privacy-respecting search engine is yet another great, if not the greatest way of improving your privacy on the internet.
The amount of data a company such as Gooqle can gather on a person by collecting what they search for is astounding. It goes without saying, then, that switching would instantly have a profound effect on your privacy. However, the monolith of metadata is so popular for a reason: they've got the best search results. And realistically, one won't be completely dropping the use of the search engine any time soon, but if only for a few searches here and there, you might want to try out some of the alternatives listed down below.
- DuckDuckGo
- searX (A list of other instances is availible searX.space)
Further Information
Finally, if you want even more tips on privacy, then check out PrivacyTools.
Finally, do you want to screech at me about how your favorite browser isn't on the list? Or perhaps you simply want to send some death threats? Put 'em down in the comment section!
