[Tips and Information] Privacy and How to Stay Anonymous Online

[ABCbits]

- HTTP everywhere.

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

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.)

[1715037364]

1715037364

[1715037364]

1715037364

[1715037364]

1715037364

[sarnic]

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.

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.

[BitMaxz]

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.

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.

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.

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.

[o_e_l_e_o]

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.

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.

[lobat999]

With regards to VPN use, I would like to mention Opera Browser which offers a free and user friendly way to connect through VPN.

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

[mersal]

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.

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.

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.

[o_e_l_e_o]

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.

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.

Afterall, I understand no one is 100 percent safe even with the best security setup on their systems.

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?

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

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.

[lobat999]

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.

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.

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.

After all, I understand no one is 100 percent safe even with the best security setup on their systems.

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?

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.

[bwatts]

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

[o_e_l_e_o]

anonymity will be really good

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.

[naska21]

anonymity will be really good

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.

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.

[mersal]

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.

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.

[o_e_l_e_o]

-snip-

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.

But when we talk about our privacy in general its already stolen by android and IOS devices

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.

[nakamura12]

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.

[mersal]

But when we talk about our privacy in general its already stolen by android and IOS devices

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.

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.

[naska21]

-snip-

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.

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.

[o_e_l_e_o]

IMHO, VPN + TOR + obfsproxy is the best bundle for both security and privacy.

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?

[ABCbits]

But when we talk about our privacy in general its already stolen by android and IOS devices

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

[naska21]

IMHO, VPN + TOR + obfsproxy is the best bundle for both security and privacy.

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?

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.

[o_e_l_e_o]

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.