Did you know that your antivirus software, browser, and search engine don’t protect you from prying eyes? All your private information is being shared with third-party entities, advertisers, and marketers.
Nowadays, you can’t visit a website, a social platform, or even use a mobile app without your private information being shared. So how do you protect your privacy online? You can use a social media proxy such as a Facebook proxy as one of the methods to protect your privacy. Thankfully, there are also other ways that you can avoid getting tracked online. We’ve listed the best ways you can protect your online privacy.
How To Avoid Getting Tracked Online
Websites, social media platforms, and applications use your Internet Protocol (IP) address, emails, search history, and permissions to watch and track you. Some even go as far as to collect your social security or financial information.
All this information mentioned is very dangerous in the hands of a hacker with malicious intent. The website you’re accessing may have good intentions, like using your information for market research or advertising purposes, but what happens if these sites get hacked? You have no control over these situations. That’s why it’s better to protect your privacy from the start. Below are the best measures that you can implement now.
Use Rotating Proxies
Using a rotating proxy is one of the best methods to cloak your IP address. All proxies act as an intermediary between you and the website, social media platform, or mobile application that you’re visiting. There are many types of proxies available that will effectively cloak your IP. For example, there are Instagram, Twitter, or a Facebook proxy to protect your social media accounts. There are also location-based proxies and many others that all hide your IP address.
Your choice of proxy depends on your browsing needs and habits. A rotating proxy will change your IP address with every new request you complete. This makes tracking impossible, which is the best way to ensure your privacy and safety.
Mix User Agents With Extensions
Web servers employ user agents as an essential communication tool between your device and the website. A user agent communicates your browser, device, operating system, and rendering engine to the web server. This information is then used to optimize your experience of the website. This is the reason why a website appears different on a Mac versus a Windows PC.
User-agent switchers interchange the details of your user agent. It’s not as effective as a Facebook proxy, but switching your user agent regularly will make tracking very difficult for hackers and websites.
Employ Browser Extensions To Recognize Trackers
There are many browser extensions that you can download to recognize and block trackers. We’re constantly tracked by ‘invisible’ trackers. Getting swamped with annoying ads is just the tip of the iceberg.
A Google, Firefox, and Opera browser extension like Privacy Badger will send a Global Privacy Control Signal to automatically opt you out of your data getting shared or sold online. In addition, the software sends a Do Not Track Signal to businesses to notify them not to track you. If your notifications are ignored, Privacy Badger will block their advertisements and tracking attempts in any event. The software will automatically start blocking once it recognizes the same tracker on only three websites.
Using Blur is another option. This extension is available for Firefox or Chrome. This software can be used to generate or manage passwords. In addition, it offers great encryption and an ad blocker. You have the option of buying the premium version, which enables a masked card feature. This feature lets you create virtual cards (replacing your credit and debit cards) that can only be used once when you shop online.
Closing Points
The internet and tracking technology are dynamic and new ways to track online users are being developed every day. It’s essential to remain vigilant and cautious of what you share on the internet with social media platforms, websites, and mobile applications.
For example, when a navigation app asks you to share your contacts and photos, it should be a major red flag. The application does not need to have access to this information to work. We need to be aware of what permissions we give websites and apps.
In most instances, we don’t even know that we’re being watched since trackers are very sneaky. Use multiple private browsers like Tor Browser and DuckDuckGo, and always avoid using auto sign-ins using Google, or Facebook to register your new online accounts.
