Anonymity on the Internet

To ensure the confidentiality of personal data and weaken control over your personal life on the Internet (social networks, chat rooms), you need to think about countering the identification of your computer on the network.

Of course, the degree of anonymity is a personal choice for everyone. For example, for businessmen and politicians, confidentiality in conducting political, civil or public affairs comes first. But do not forget about the unpleasant feeling when you are constantly being spied on and "delved into" in your personal life. What should I do? In this article, we will try to consider the most popular ways to maintain anonymity on the web.

Complete anonymity. Myth or reality?
Speaking about anonymity, two concepts should be distinguished:

Social anonymity refers to the conscious/unconscious dissemination of personal information by the user himself on the network.
Technical anonymity, when control over the storage and security of personal data is entrusted to special technical means (programs and applications), while the leakage of personal data is minimized.
Let's say right away that it is impossible to maintain complete confidentiality on the network. You can only complicate the identification process. It's like with a door lock - the more complicated the mechanism, the more time it takes to crack it.

Organizational precautions
It should be understood that each computer (tablet, laptop, smartphone) has its own IP address, which can easily identify the owner and view the history of his actions. To make the task more difficult for interested parties, you can start with a simple one:

create additional accounts (multiple email addresses, an additional account) and register profiles of necessary services and social networks on them;
never mix a public profile with a private one;
if possible, do not use the search engines and services of the country where you live;
periodically change Internet access points (cafes, parks, computer clubs).
Such simple actions will help hide the network and real IP address and confuse intruders for a short time.

Programmatic precautions
Of course, there are special programs and services for maintaining anonymity on the web:

Proxy servers. The programs act as a virtual intermediary between your surfing requests and the requested site. Using a proxy, you can access sites or resources prohibited by the company's privacy policy that are inaccessible to residents of a particular country.
Virtual Private Network (VPN). The method is simple and reliable. It is based on traffic coding. Depending on the VPN protocols used, the encrypted channel becomes inaccessible to tracking.
TOR is a software package and a network of routers that provide anonymity to users. The work is based on the use of several proxy servers, VPN channels and an encrypted data package. When using a TOR browser, tracking the user's activity history is almost impossible. The TOR Browser software does not conflict with most popular browsers and is available for download with all the necessary components of Torbutton, NoScript and HTTPS Everywhere. TOR is one of the best options for unobtrusive surfing on the Internet.
Of course, this article does not describe all the ways to maintain privacy on the Internet, because there are a lot of them. But even the methods and precautions listed above can complicate the task for your detractors or regulatory authorities.