21 tips, tricks and shortcuts to help you stay anonymous online

The page gathers 21 ways to reduce online tracking and keep activity harder to trace. It ranges from extensions for webmail and HTTPS to VPNs, Tor, proxy servers, privacy-focused browsers, password managers, and account deletion, while stressing that no single measure guarantees anonymity.

Reading notes

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• browser extensions like Mailvelope can add OpenPGP encryption to webmail services such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail
• private browsing mainly stops the browser from storing cookies and history on the local machine, but it does not hide IP address or identity from the wider web
• social media services collect large amounts of personal data, and deleting accounts is the only sure way to remove it fully
• Ghostery can reveal web trackers and lets the user choose which ones to block
• encrypted email providers such as Hushmail and MyKolab offer more privacy than mainstream services, though they can still be subject to lawful access
• disposable email addresses are useful for avoiding spam and keeping a real address away from websites that require one
• VPNs hide IP address and route data through an encrypted tunnel
• Tor makes tracking harder and can support anonymous access to the hidden web, but it can be slow and restrictive
• proxy servers mask IP address and can make browsing appear to come from another country
• HTTPS Everywhere forces websites to use HTTPS when available
• deleting cookies reduces how much websites can learn about browsing habits
• DuckDuckGo is presented as a search engine that does not track searches
• privacy-focused browsers can help, but the article says they work best alongside other measures
• Edward Snowden recommends Spideroak over Dropbox for more privacy-friendly file storage
• Blackphone is described as a privacy-focused smartphone with built-in protections
• password managers help users keep different strong passwords instead of reusing weak ones
• Whonix is described as a security-focused operating system built around Tor
• Darkcoin is presented as an anonymous cryptocurrency
• virtual machines can isolate risky files from the main system
• browser extensions such as NoScript and ScriptSafe let users control JavaScript more closely
• the final step for complete anonymity is to avoid going online at all and destroy connected devices