Ways to stay Anonymous and Protect your Online Privacy

Now more than ever, your online privacy is under attack. ISPs, advertisers, and governments around the world are increasingly interested in knowing exactly what you’re up to when you browse the web. Whether you’re a political activist or simply someone who hates the idea of third-parties scrutinizing your surfing habits, there are plenty of tools available to keep prying eyes off of your traffic.
In this post, I’m going to highlight 19 ways to increase your online privacy. Some methods are more complicated than others, but if you’re serious about remaining private, these tips will help shield your traffic from snoops. Of course, internet security is a topic in and of itself, so you’re going to need to do some reading to remain thoroughly protected on all fronts. And remember, even the most careful among us are still vulnerable to imperfect technology.

VPN

If you're very serious about maintaining your anonymity, consider investing in a VPN solution like TorGuard or Private Internet Access. These services essentially allow you to disguise your traffic. Your real IP address will be hidden from the world, and your traffic will remain indecipherable to nosy ISPs or governments. Even if your government is actively on the lookout for VPN traffic, you can still benefit from so-called "stealth VPNs." TorGuard offers its stealth VPN service at no additional cost, and it will make government detection and interference much harder to accomplish. For those of you being held hostage by your government, VPNs are by far the best bet for bypassing censorship and snooping.

Tails live operating system

If you want to take privacy beyond a simple VM solution, you can instead boot up a live OS from a CD or USB stick. Knoppix and Ubuntu are good options for normal use, but Tails is custom-built for preserving your privacy and anonymity. Your traffic is automatically routed through Tor, encryption tools are built-in for IM and email, and it won't interact with any of your existing OS installations. It's an excellent all-in-one package that's easy to use. Still, you need to be vigilant. All of the same Tor disclaimers apply, and if you're using this on a shared PC, you could still be tracked even with a simple key logger.

Blocking location data

In recent years, many sites have begun using location data to offer specific services, and serve targeted advertisements. Mapping applications have legitimate reasons for gathering location data, but that same technique can be used to help identify who you are. Any legitimate browser should let you toggle on and off location data, and we recommend leaving it off completely. At the least, demand that websites prompt you for access before gathering the data. That said, IP-based geolocation data is incredibly trivial to acquire, so remain vigilant. If you're browsing the Web without a proxy or a VPN, you're effectively broadcasting your IP to every server you come across, and that information can be used against you. It's not necessarily something you have to worry about constantly, but it's worth keeping that fact in the back of your mind if you're criticizing your local dictator or blowing a whistle on the NSA.

Ghostery browser extension

If you're serious about protecting your privacy, consider installing Ghostery in Firefox, Chrome, Opera, IE, or Safari. This adorable little browser extension allows you to block trackers from all over the web in one place. Better yet, it displays just exactly which tracking services are being used on your favorite websites, and allows you to dynamically enable or disable tracking as you see fit. It's simple to use, and extremely customizable. If you hate the idea of being spied on by advertisers, this is exactly the extension you're looking for. Ghostery has been criticized for collecting data, Todd Ruback -- Ghostery's chief privacy and security  assured us that the tracking is strictly opt-in, and explains how the information is used. If you're concerned about Ghostery, take this opportunity to read up on the extension, and make a decision for yourself.