Enjoying a private browsing experience in 2023 feels impossible. The web is full of trackers, on-site and third-party cookies, ads, and extremely invasive mobile applications. With modern tech companies chasing every opportunity to collect private user data for product development or reselling to third parties, the average internet user is outmatched and has no choice but to completely give up their right to privacy.
Because the options to enjoy the internet and stay anonymous are dwindling away, enjoying a private web experience feels impossible, even with the help of external tools for online security. In this article, we will discuss the main ways we can avoid or minimize tracking online. We will start off with some tips and tricks you can use to make yourself less vulnerable to data collection and then proceed to the most versatile privacy tools like proxy servers.
You can buy proxies plus their different types from the top providers in 2023 and read technical blog articles to learn more about the service and the benefits it brings to your browsing experience.
We will also address additional reasons to buy proxies, as they are also great helpers for business-oriented online sessions. Once you know all the essential options to avoid tracking, you can buy proxies that suit your needs and not only protect but also improve the overall browsing experience.
Use a password manager
Nowadays, every website, social media platform, or online shop wants you to register to the platform via email and have a designated account to enjoy their services. While the requirement to create such accounts is already a privacy hazard, one of the biggest dangers to online tracking is the use of simple passwords, as well as the recycling of similar IP addresses.
With a password manager, you can create stronger combinations and store them in a secure encrypted application. This way, if one of your accounts gets leaked, the other associated registrations will not fall like dominoes, putting your entire internet identity in danger or setting up perfect circumstances for blackmail from hackers and cybercriminals.
Get a user-agent switcher
User-agents contain information about your browser and its version, plus the current operating system. While this combination of data carries very little knowledge and is often replicated on other devices, a web server can associate your user-agent with a recurring IP address. This way, if one segment of private data changes, the recipient can still connect the dots and predict your new connection as the appearance of the same person.
Clever identification algorithms can squeeze the water out of a stone with such information. If one of your connections was used to connect to the account on the website, the situation only gets worse, as the owner has too much-intertwined data about you and your browsing sessions.
However, with a user-agent switcher, you can spoof these two data points and present entirely different information in your HTTP request. Paired with an option to change your IP address, the combination creates solid protection from online tracking.
Start using a VPN
VPNs or Virtual Private Networks offer complex encrypted connections that send your data packets through a VPN tunnel and into a server before it continues traversing toward their destination. It is a fine option to stop online tracking because most popular providers have well-rounded services with additional features, as well as options that are well described in the provided settings.
With a fast-tunneling protocol and an encryption standard, VPN connections are even safe against tracking from members on your private or public network. The connection between the user and the server is called a VPN tunnel for a reason. Eventually, as data packets continue their journey, they do so in disguise: a VPN server assigns them a new IP address. VPNs are great tools for preserving online privacy, but their services are expensive, and most providers have very small server pools.
Get yourself a proxy server
As a strong and lightweight alternative, proxy servers provide a quick solution toward a desired goal. With the biggest providers offering millions of residential IPs, as well as thousands of datacenter proxies, finding the best option is not always an easy feat.
Datacenter IPs are cheaper but may not be the best solution to prevent online tracking. While these addresses are fast, their scarcity and lack of connection with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) push them down on this list.
These addresses lack authenticity, and because they are structured in bulk to make more comfortable and scalable purchases, the downfall of one address may mean IP bans for the entire section. This way, even if you get yourself a new identity, some websites might have already encountered these addresses and blocked them, either due to suspicion or unethical actions.
Residential proxies are the stronger alternative, with IPs tied to real ISPs and devices that connect to the internet with these addresses. The biggest proxy providers have millions of IPs at their disposal, letting you choose any address you want to avoid tracking and change your geolocation at the same time.
Residential proxies are often used to unblock restricted sites and streaming libraries. For business-related tasks, these IPs are perfect for protecting web scraping bots and scaling their efforts.
Conclusion
Even with all available safety precautions, nobody really knows if they are being tracked. Despite our best efforts, modern tech companies and government agencies still have plenty of ways to undermine user privacy. Still, changing your settings and navigating the web with a proxy server is a great start that will help you minimize your digital footprint.
