Being anonymous as I'm sure any security expert will tell you in this day and age is fucking difficult, I have been attempting it with varying degrees of success and while I have bits and clues to my identity scattered over the web because of me using a global username that allows users to basically google stalk me if they dig deep enough because of the downright abysmal privacy practices of internet companies and half-arsed security measures. You also have to end up relying on people who aren't necessarily trustworthy or competent when it comes to keeping information and don't even bother to keep your details offline or in secure server that can't easily be hacked.
I am no security expert but through simple trial and error I believe I have found some of the best ways to stay completely anonymous or at least hide the majority of your activity so the creepy internet stalkers can't get to you and up to a point even government agencies won't know what you're doing. Now, as I'm sure some of you security savvy people will realise, I think I've definitely failed with this username but thankfully if I have something I really want to keep private I know now how best to go about it and will now list the various methods that newbies and experts alike can go by if they want to keep most of their life off the internet and it does not require any kind of hacking, you can consider this a sun tzu's art of war style handbook to staying anonymous.
Always use Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency ( If Anoncoin is going to deliver on what it promises then that may be an even better option )We live in an extremely rare time at the moment, for years we have had to deal with the fact anything and I mean anything we purchase is dumped in a server whenever we use debit card or credit card details. Doesn't matter if you're purchasing a perfectly innocent game or a sex toy, everything you do is tracked and put on a database somewhere. With Bitcoin and other currencies like it however, that's changing, while you still can't pay your bills anonymously yet or buy groceries without someone being able to look up your purchasing habits you can at least get various electronics and now even webhosting privately which will help keep your identity off the internet as there is no information for them to look up on the private servers. As it is always said, the first rule of a fight is don't be there, if you can avoid it, never ever sign up to anything with a debit/credit card, never under any circumstances. Now I'm sure some of the people here will be thinking that they can just lie about it or use fake information on the cards to buy stuff but like I said, absolutely anything you buy is transmitted to a server in the public domain and even then you'll have an agency somewhere looking over this stuff for fraud so you'll be found out eventually. I'm keeping the details private for now until it's all fixed but I foolishly signed up to a webhost with my debit card and when I was having problems with them and needed to get things sorted I went to the place they were keeping my domain and they not only just brazenly looked up my details from the debit card they asked me for a government ID scan and for me to sign a form if I were going to get help from them. So far they seem to be respecting my privacy at least in regards to the public domain but let that be a lesson to you guys to never use your card for anything, it really is just a giant data farm operation going on every single time you buy something.
Never sign up to any social networking or upload your photo if you aren't willing to face the consequencesIt seems a nice idea doesn't it? Sign up to a network site, get your friends together for a chat when you can't get together in person and share your experiences and entire life story online? While the idea may seem nice and it's constantly and I mean constantly advertised by everybody on television like it's the greatest thing ever devised. Guess what though? While it may have started off innocently enough social networking has simply evolved into another data farming operation designed to gleen as much personal information about you and your activities and your friends' activities. That's the worst part for me but it's why I also made this username global so people would be able to contact me and know who I am without needing to know any contact details so it's not too bad but I think one of the worst things about social networking is despite making up fake information because I went and added friends who either don't really know better or don't care all that much that's left plenty of gaps in privacy for strangers to exploit. Since facebook and networks like it just blurts out any bullshit your friends write or post or click that means clues to places you have been before crop up occasionally when it tries to pester you to post real information on your profile, thankfully though I have friends all over the world so people won't be able to tell where I am easily unless they're determined.
Always sign up to things with separate email addresses and separate usernames/passwords and be sure to keep your important and insignificant stuff separate tooIf you're like me and don't want everyone and their mothers and children looking up you clicking on porn because even though you may love and respect them they are a bunch of nosy fucks. Don't ever sign up to sites with a username you are public about ( I've actually done quite well in this respect so good luck tracing my porn downloads
) as this will of course mean search engines and linked up companies or social networking sites will track the activity and document it for everybody to see. It is also a really good idea to do this for security purposes too, keeping your financial stuff entirely separate and quiet will mean you drastically reduce the risk of but not eliminate the chances of somebody finding information about you through your internet social life and hacking into your account that way. This is where I had some success because even with a lack of experience we're all taught early that if somebody gets into your financial stuff you're fucked. Thankfully when it comes to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency services it was designed by people who actually use the internet so instead of linking all your personal information to a big database you just need a secure password and that's it so it goes without saying cryptocurrencies are pretty damn secure if you store them offline I do think that leaving any big amount of money in a bank account is a bad idea because those companies will demand your personal information if you want to do anything with it and that puts you at risk. So figure out how to use Bitcoins properly and put them on a laptop or a USB drive depending on how paranoid you are and make sure they're stored, there are tutorials out there and the armoury wallet that can help you do this and people here on Bitcointalk will be happy to help you exercise some responsibility with your coins, don't be like the guy who lost his Bitcoins in a landfill because he didn't back them up properly!
While you can always take measures and certainly find trustworthy likeminded people the only way to properly protect your data or personal information is to keep it offline, trust no one.
Anonymous proxy's, regular proxies, private torrent sites, VPN's ( Virtual Private Networks ) and anonymous friendly software are your friends, some are free, some cost something, so do your research and find what works for youFor those who don't know, there is an address out there for every computer and it's called an I.P ( Internet Protocol ) Address and this is something else that started off completely innocent because computers need signals to send and receive or communicate pieces of data over the internet, someone with more technical experience could explain this better than me but that's my basic understanding of it. Anyway these signals are now being used by all kinds of people for various purposes and amongst the more menacing purposes they can be used to find your location. While it can't give an exact location unless you have some technical skill and know how to gain access to the landline ( feel free to correct me on this guys if you're security experts ) it can manage to transmit the city that you live in and the rough area you are at, website administrators can also block you from viewing their websites if they're clever enough nevermind a forum ban so you can be discriminated against based on what country you're from. So what to do about it? Well there are various methods to choose from and people have already written about them quite a bit so I'll be brief on these methods. There are plenty of brave people out there who have concerns about privacy on the internet and the way everybody is trying to spy on one another. They have made proxies to get around blockades by internet service providers which ironically are easily found with a search engine if you just use the term "Proxy" and "Piratebay", there are Virtual Private Networks which you can now pay for in Bitcoin to keep your personal information secret, be wary though you need to do your research here, each company has a varying degree of trustworthiness when it comes to your internet activity so you have to find out who are okay and who aren't. If you're happy just limiting peoples ability to view your downloading habits or you don't want your nosy ISP looking at what you're up to. An easy way to keep things hidden is to sign up to a private bittorrent site, you will need a Bittorrent client that they like and an email address. Also a quick tip, a good way to know how anonymous friendly someone is, is to look at how much information they demand from you, if they have hardly any fields and none of that required* bullshit then you should be fairly safe but just make sure you don't sign up with an email address you use to contact family members with.
I asked around about keeping even my email activity anonymous one time and I was recommended this operating system called whonix which seems like a privacy lovers' wet dream when it comes to keeping your activity on the internet private. I'm afraid though I know very little about these anonymous operating systems or about how friendly they are for things like gaming. If you're really paranoid you could use these but keep in mind that it will require some technical skill to use despite being free. Also when it comes to security and keeping anonymous, open source is always your friend amongst all the other stuff I've mentioned because programmers and everybody in the public as well as law enforcement will be going through it with a fine tooth comb and looking for security holes or bugs. If Bitcoin hadn't been released open source, I can safely say I would have avoided it like the plague so I'm really glad it was made this way so take the same approach when it comes to any software you download, the usual rule of looking at how much information they demand is again a good way to keep off the radar.
The good news is that while there are forces at work looking to watch our every move because they think they know what's best for us and need to control us, there are also people on the opposite end of the scale. Thanks to Bitcoin being open source there are now many alternatives and a real possibility of avoiding any kind of surveillance at least on the internet.
Reliable and trustworthy friends is one of your best defences, technically illiterate, ignorant and mean people will be your downfallIf the internet has proven anything to me is that it really is the ultimate test of friendship that doesn't involve getting people physically harmed ( most of the time ) I'm sure you've all seen it spammed by media outlets, the sex tape of a celebrity uploaded to the internet, the friend who had her job opportunity ruined by an embarassing photo uploaded by some douchebag, or the family member accidentally opening up a virus sent by a spammer they thought was you emailing them. The fact is, when it comes to the internet and me saying trust no one, it may sound harsh but your true friends and family would be extremely understanding if you explained to them the consequences of them clicking a link they know nothing about or posting a photo of you on the internet without your consent. If your family members or friends fuck around, don't let them, I've had a completely mixed bag with this, some of my friends and family are as paranoid as I am and completely understand where as others are just totally ignorant of how much information someone can get about you just by watching your browsing habits so I have the less privacy conscious signing up to my social networking stuff despite me hardly ever using it now and others who just chat to me on skype or keep their information fake or hidden as well.
While a lot of it can be just down to keeping nosy people out of your life there is also a serious side to this, you may have seen reports on the news about people getting raped/murdered/stalked on social networking sites and the internet in general. It isn't just fear mongering unfortunately even though they certainly do try to mess with you by picking up the absolute worse stories. Most people will leave you alone in the world but there are always a few crazy sociopaths you can get on the wrong side of just by looking at them the wrong way and that's where the trouble can start. If your friends or family don't understand this, then educate them there's no need to do the fearmongering b.s. but particularly with the older people you know who won't know about the internet much it may be that they just haven't realised. If you've tried your hardest and your now so called friend and family member just won't respect the fact that there's a possibility of their activity getting you or them into serious trouble then strike them from your life, people like that are just a liability and no matter how 'nice' they might act they're going to fuck you over one day. Social networks thanks to public pressure have actually gotten a little better now with privacy because you can now at least request to have your account deleted, so if it wasn't visited much and you don't have stalkers you at least have a chance of repairing the damage though you will have to fork over more information in some cases to do it.
I've tried to include as much information as possible here with mostly free things you can do that just keep yourself hidden, I hope this little anonymity post will help out both newbies and experts alike in finding gaps and problems with keeping their activity on the internet hidden, feel free to add any extra tips guys if you notice anything missing.
For basic levels of checking your anonymity, use websites like
http://www.whatismyip.com/ and see if they can get a location on you that will usually tell you how well you're hiding your I.P Address.
