In Part 1 of this article, I had explained the reasons as to why one would like to be anonymous while surfing the web, and also how the IP address can be hidden using proxy servers. In this part, I’ll be explaining certain other steps that you can take to protect your privacy while being online browsing the Internet.
(1) Try to select your email address that is not reflective of your real name. You can select any random email address, such as “m23s48n19@yahoo.com”. There can be many variations in fact, subject to your own imagination.
(2) When you’re asked to subscribe to some online service using your email, avoid subscribing through your main email address, and wherever possible, try to subscribe through your secondary email address that does not reflect your real name. In addition to providing some anonymity, this will also ensure that you don’t get spam mail in your mail email account. Likewise, when you post to some group site, or write to some unknown person, or comment on blogs, you can try using your secondary email address. Your real or main email address can be kept confidential only amongst your close group of friends, family members, and the like.
(3) If you’ve an official email account from your company where you’re employed, never use that email account for sending your personal emails. There is a likelihood that the official email account may be subject to scrutiny. Moreover, sometimes, the official email addresses are by name or your post or designation instead of by individual name, which means that if you leave that post / employment, the same email address may be used by your successor; this can seriously affect your privacy if you’ve been using your official email address provided by your employer for your private or personal emails.
(4) Sometimes, if needed, you can use even anonymous email services that allow you to send email even without having an email account. See, for example, Send anonymous email without email account.
(5) If you’re concerned that anyone can access your profile, personal photos, and other details from your social networking membership accounts (such as at Facebook, Twitter, etc.), make your profile private if the social networking site allows that option. This will restrict access to your profile and other information, only to those person whom you invite.
(6) While putting your personal photos, pictures and videos online on the social networking sites or on photo-sharing sites such as Flickr or on video-sharing sites such as YouTube, exercise caution and don’t put those photos etc., that can embarrass you in future. You may put only your formal or professional photos and not personal or private ones. This is of course the case when you’re concerned about your privacy.
(7) Again, while posting your comments on a blog, news site, discussion group site, etc., you may use either some pseudonymous name or just use the first name. Remember that search engines, such as Google, are very efficient in indexing all such comments. You can easily find all comments made by you even five years back by searching for your name on Google Search. Similarly, others would also be able to find what you’ve written about which topic even ten years afterwards. So, exercise caution, if you’re concerned about it.
(8) Since there is a likelihood that your online activities on your office computer may be under watch (even if this may not be the case, you should presume it), always take care while browsing the web for personal use from the office computer. Your personal messages may get caught and may embarrass you. Use your home computer that is not shared by outsiders. For more details on this issue, read Will my boss monitor my Internet use at work?
(9) Likewise, be careful while using a computer in a cyber café for browsing the Internet. Who knows whether all your keystrokes are being recorded! Your passwords may also be stolen.
(10) Many websites store cookies on your computer when you visit them. Some of these cookies may track your visits online to various websites. Normally a cookie may track your visits to the website that placed it on your computer. However, the third party cookies placed by advertising companies may track your visits to several websites. Normally, it is harmless; however, if you’re concerned about your privacy and anonymity being violated by such cookies, you can easily delete the existing cookies and disable cookies [learn how to disable or delete cookies, All about Cookies – Part 1; Cookies – Part 2 – Internet Explorer; Cookies – Part 3 – Mozilla Firefox; Cookies – Part 4 – Google Chrome]. However, please remember that if you disable all cookies, some websites may not load properly in your browser and your Internet browsing experience may be affected.
(11) When subscribing to online services, always try to uncheck options such as “receive information about updates”, “receive information about our promotion schemes”, “receive newsletter”, and the like. Most of the online subscriptions automatically select such options and you’ve to specifically unselect them if you don’t want to be put on the mailing lists of several sites and possibly of the third parties as well. This way you can also avoid getting spam mail.
(12) Internet is an ocean, bigger than the Pacific. People come from all parts of the world to browse the Internet. Since you’re reading this article that means you’ve concern for your privacy and anonymity. But, likewise, there may be other people also who might be maintaining anonymous and pseudonymous names and profiles. In fact, some of them might probably also be doing it with illegal intentions. With the emphasis on “social networking” these days, you can easily make friends on Internet by exchanging just one or two posts or emails or comments. You may not know whether the person who is interacting with you is using his real name or not. So, always be sure and exercise caution while sharing your personal information with a stranger on the Internet with whom you’ve just “met” on the web the other day.
(13) It may be advantageous to read the Privacy Policy of the websites you visit. You may come to know what information about your visit is recorded by them or shared by them with third parties.
These are some precautions that you can easily take to secure your privacy and maintain anonymity on the Internet to the extent best possible.
Read, How to be anonymous online? Part 1 – Part 2
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