The world has become a global village and the current internet age comes with its dangers. There are more cases of identity theft and hacking than ever and this has made online security very important for internet users.

Here are four tips on how to attain anonymity when online.

Conceal your IP address and Location

One of the most important ways to be anonymous online is to conceal your IP address. Your computer’s IP address is the easiest way for someone to track you and know your location. Thankfully, there is a proven method to conceal your IP address; the use of a virtual private network (VPN).  A VPN is essentially a private encrypted network that conceals your IP address by providing a different IP address when browsing online.

VPNs also do more than just to conceal your IP address as they enable you to access information from websites that are geo-locked. Many VPN service providers offer servers from across the world and you can connect from there to access websites in that location.

In addition, many top VPN services have a no-logs policy as well as extra features like a kill-switch that stops your connections when there is a problem with encryption.

Using a VPN doesn’t have to be costly, there is plenty of cheap VPN’s out there to choose from.

Improve Privacy of Search Engines

Search engines are an important aspect of the internet as they essentially help us to find information on the web. However, it has been proven over time that popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing collect personalized data from users.

To improve your privacy when using one of these search engines, all  you need to log into your account and turn Ad personalization off. 

Use Incognito or Private Browsers whenever possible

Browsing in private mode is one of the easiest way to achieve anonymity online. Several popular browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Opera have private or incognito modes on their platforms.

This privacy mode helps you to get rid of cookies when browsing various websites online. Cookies are bits of data stored on your computer when you surf online. This tiny bit of data allows other web pages to deliver tailored-made related searches to you based on your browsing history.

Browsing in privacy mode also helps to prevent snoops and hackers from getting access to your browsing history.

Use anonymous email services

Emails have become important with several popular email services available. In recent years, emails have been the subject of spams which give the opportunity to get information about you and poke into your private life.

First, it is essential that you do not click on links you are not sure of so as to minimize security risk. Second, make use of anonymous email services. These email providers use encryption to scramble mail sent out and require the recipient to input a password that decrypts the messages. However, if you don’t intend to pay for anonymous email services, you can try disposable email services. These mailboxes are temporary forwarding addresses that are deleted after a specific period of time. 

Conclusion

Overall, it is always important to ensure that each tip is followed with the utmost attention. You can combine two or more tips to ensure better improvement on your privacy. Be that as it may, one very important point for you to note is that utilizing VPN services is the best option for you to maintain your privacy online. If you can only consider one option out of the options listed above, it should be the use of VPN services. You can get started here.

Megan Nichols is a science writer and editor for Schooled By Science. She enjoys reading and writing about the latest innovations in technology and science.

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