Today, anonymity is something that is very difficult to obtain as the world is increasingly connected via the internet. Privacy is often underestimated and so many people are not aware of this issue. In fact, it’s not uncommon for us to hear that our interest is to become the most valuable commodity traded by big companies, especially where almost everyone has used the internet.
Why be completely anonymous online?
The most prominent question you might ask is, why should I consider becoming completely anonymous if I don’t have anything to hide? You probably have a different opinion and perspective on this.
From the writer’s perspective and opinion, being anonymous does not mean that we will take illegal actions, so we need to hide it. Being anonymous can mean that we protect ourselves from the possibility of data theft, both personal and sensitive in nature. I don’t really know about you, but another thing that concerns me is that I can’t really trust and be sure regarding the government’s competencies and intent on our data, who is also likely to spy on us.
It’s a kind of fear, uncertainty, and doubt I guess. But, I think we don’t really know what really happens and what they are up to with our data.
Is it possible to be completely online?
Honestly, I’m afraid to say that it is close to impossible to be completely anonymous online as I’m doing deeper research regarding this topic. And of course, I know the title may be a bit misleading here. Otherwise, it won’t catch your interest to at least read this article.
However, many ways can still be implemented to obscure your identity. From a technical standpoint, it may offer better confidentiality and anonymity online by giving an additional layer of security. These methods are somewhat better to take rather than completely be exposed if you need anonymity.
Tails OS
Stands for The Amnesic Incognito Live System, Tails is a Linux distribution based on Debian with privacy and anonymity in mind. If you visit its official web, one word you might notice is portable.
Why portability? The OS portability offers great advantages in terms of privacy. In this case, Tails running on a USB stick will not leave any traces on the computer used by using the Amnesia feature. This is clearly the opposite of the OS that we generally know with a persistent file system. Tails also uses the TOR network by default, which helps anonymize your connection tremendously.
Even so, Tails OS is still possible to run using a virtual machine. However, this is not really recommended because the features offered will be ineffective.
Ghostery & Ad Blocker
The thing that is worth knowing about Ghostery is that it lets you know the third-party tracker that is going to track you. It works by matching its library data to the known trackers so it will inform you so you can take action. If you choose to block it, Ghostery claims to never let any connection happen in the first place.
TOR Browser
In terms of anonymity, this one is probably the most familiar with you.
TOR protocol works by employing three kinds of relays: entry node, relay node, and exit node. The idea behind the TOR protocol is letting the connection bounce over different layers and at the same time encrypt the packets in order to provide anonymity and confidentiality to the client. In more simple terms, by using TOR, your connection will jump through several servers or nodes before reaching the destination web server.
You can think of it like using a proxy (see this [post](https://binaryte.com/blog/what-is-a-proxy-server-and-how-does-it- work)), but instead of a single proxy, you use three different kinds of proxy that “chains” together. What’s interesting about the TOR network is these three relays will have no idea what the client sends to them due to its multi- layered encryption.
We won’t go further into this, as it deserves a whole post explaining how the TOR Network works, but you have to keep in mind that the privacy you will get is at the cost of the slower connection performance or inaccessible website due to the owner not allowing connection through the TOR network.
Efforts to anonymize your online presence
More than that, it is how you use the internet that matters the most. Some of the actions you need to take into consideration are the following.
Learn to use Linux
Linux is considerably more stable due to its frequent update. It also has way less exposure as compared to Windows, so the attempt to compromise is also way lower.
Another thing is, Linux is designed to separate the core process from the process that the user may use daily. Because of this, it is not recommended to use the root account on a daily basis because the root account makes it possible for you to do everything on your system which could lead to the worst in terms of security.
The root account is the “lowest hanging fruit” in a Linux machine, so if the attack happens, this is the one thing that the attacker will absolutely target. While both Windows and Linux may have different attack vectors (for example malware attack), both are still vulnerable to attack.
However, it doesn’t mean Linux is giving you more edge over Windows. Take position on an attacker’s feet, you probably don’t want to target the system with less exposure as it is not even worth trying.
How does it correlate to be completely anonymous? Remember when I say “spy on us”? By using Windows machines, it means that you follow the crowd and therefore it is more likely to be targeted. For this reason, if I really have to be completely online, I will consider using Linux in the first place (like Tails OS I’ve mentioned above) rather than using Windows machine.
Use disposable account for everything
Take it to a more extreme level, it is better to never ever reveal yourself to the internet, either social media or make an email address with your identity. If you really need to, use a disposable email account to sign up to any platform. Also, avoid using your primary phone number to your account.
Stay away from your mobile device
You probably know that your mobile device can always track you. In this case, the phone company might already know where you are and you are supposedly taking this into consideration.
In order to work properly, your mobile phone needs to establish a connection to the nearest station tower. The station then estimates the distance of your phone location based on the time span until the packet is received. Thus, your phone carrier company can track you even if you (and your phone) are moving fast like in a public transportation mode.
Use public hotspot
Even if you are trying to connect to the TOR network, your ISP will know. However, it will have no idea what you are really doing. In this case, the most viable option is to use public hotspots.
If you are going without your phone and start using public hotspot, are you basically untraceable? The answer is still no. Your laptop has an identifier called MAC address. When you connect to the hotspot it will still remember the MAC address of your laptop that makes it easier to track you. To some extent, you don’t have to worry about it, as long as you don’t do any illegal activity (in which I’m not encouraging you to).
Remove image metadata
If for some reason you need to send an image or photo, make sure to strip its metadata. To simplify, say that you take a photo while on vacation. The photo you have taken may also save the information regarding the location where the photo is taken along with the time it was taken, which is also known as exif data.
While some platforms like Instagram and Facebook strips the data by default, can you really trust them? While it looks trivial, if you really don’t want anyone to watch over you, you may have to take it into consideration.
Don’t use home assistant
At this point, I think you already know the reason why using a home assistant is a bad idea in terms of privacy. Therefore, I will not elaborate.
Conclusion
You can see now that it is almost completely impossible to completely be anonymous online. In spite of privacy not being criminal, the system has been structured to some degree where it seems unachievable. In the end, the choice is still yours to take.