Internet is not as private as many believed, and if it were not enough with the espionage of agencies such as the CIA or the NSA, now in the United States has voted that Internet service providers can share the navigation data of a User with a company or advertiser without requesting permission.
This causes many users to fear that the standard will end up imitating in other countries, and begin to worry about the navigation data that they share with their operators. If you are one of the worried ones, today we are going to tell you three simple methods to try to avoid that your operator knows as much about how, from where and in which pages you navigate.
The most important is the VPN, virtual private networks, because they hide the place from which you are accessing the web. But we’ll also show you the benefits of changing your router’s DNS, or why it’s vital for your security to try to always enter pages that are protected with HTTPS.
VPN to connect remotely to a web
One of the most common methods when hiding where we navigate are VPNs or virtual private networks. Initially they were designed to create virtual local networks in which our devices are connected to each other through Internet. Come on, if your mobile and your laptop are in different houses, not sharing the same IP would not be on the same local network, but with a VPN you can create a “virtual meeting point” where they are.
But over time more and more are used to hide from where you are connecting to a web page. When your mobile or PC connects to a web, they do it directly through your internet provider to the web you visit. But if you connect through a VPN server you will be using your IP and not yours, so the web you enter does not know exactly where you are physically, and your operator can not trace that route well.
Of course, not all VPNs serve the same thing. For example, although the free ones are the most used to evade regional locks, they are very ineffective for keeping your privacy, and it is important to note that they can betray you before betting on them. It is also important that the VPN does not keep logs, because otherwise if your operator cannot know where you move the owners of the virtual network can.
Being aware of these limitations and if you conform to a free trial in spite of it, you can use for example TunnelBear, which only asks you to download your extension and register on your website, taking into account that depends on the number of gigas You need to create a paid account. Then click on its icon in the browser to choose the country from which you want to simulate being connected and activate the virtual network.
Browsers like Opera have started to integrate also free VPN, but the problem remains the same, that delegates in Opera. If you are looking for maximum privacy, it is advisable to opt for more serious VPNs. To find them you will need to read the Terms of Service carefully to see if they are recording your personal information and for how long.
Many VPNs indicate that they only store the personal information needed to create an account and process the payment, something that does not have to be wrong if they do not register IP addresses, the bandwidth used during your connection or the times they access. And of course, and the maximum privacy would be to let you pay with encryption.
DNS as an extra layer of security
DNS (Domain Name System) servers, on the other hand, add a little more layer to your privacy, and you can use them to skip operator locks. When you enter a website, they are responsible for translating that web address into an IP address, so that your computer knows exactly which server to connect to access the contents of our website.
Your Internet service provider or ISP usually gives you pre-configured DNS routers, so they can always know that you are connecting with your IP and who you are exactly. In addition, when a government forces them to block access to certain pages, this is done by limiting the access of the DNS. Of course, there are services that offer alternative DNS with which you can quickly skip these locks, and that can also help improve your response speeds when looking for pages and add an extra layer of security to avoid, for example, DDoS attacks.
And how to change your DNS? In Windows 10 it’s somewhat complicated. You have to enter Configuration, once there in Network and Internet, and inside look for the option Ethernet. Look for the Change adapter options, which will take you to the Network Connections panel. Right click on your connection and click properties, where you will have to choose Internet Protocol version 4 and click Properties. In these properties, you will see an option to use certain DNS server options.
In GNU / Linux and MacOS is much easier, just enter your configuration panels and look for the network option. There you can enter the settings of your connection where you will see the DNS options. You can also do it from the configuration of your own router, you just have to look at its manual to know how to access it and look for the precise settings. This will allow you not to have to configure device to device, although you can only use it when connecting from home.
As for what DNS to use there are companies such as Open DNS that have specialized in offering this type of services as an extra layer of security with both free alternatives and payment options. In addition, Google itself has its own public DNS with which promises to offer you greater speed of navigation and more security.
You may also like to read another article on imindsoft: Privacy differential: It boasts Apple, Microsoft and Google created it uses
HTTPS, an increasingly essential standard
The HTTPS protocol is an encrypted extension with a traditional HTTP SSL or TLS layer. This means that a web address where you have to start by typing https: // instead of the classic http: // will always be much safer, since it certifies that the web visited is legitimate and adds layers of security that maintain the Integrity and privacy of connection data.
The encryption of this protocol is bidirectional, so it works both when you connect to a web and when an online service accesses your computer. That makes no one can interfere by entering into the medium of communication, which helps you to prevent being spied or manipulating your communications.
As everyone is not a foolproof method, but has enough benefits to be becoming essential, because browsers like Chrome are starting to point out as unsafe all the pages that do not use it. Therefore, one more step to take to protect your privacy from carriers is to try to enter HTTPS pages only where possible.
Extra: Tor Browser if you are looking for an extreme measure
If you are a jealous of your privacy and want to take your privacy to the extreme to avoid the possibility of your operator chatting where you move, one of the most resounding solutions is to remove Tor Browser. This browser is known for allowing you to access the darknet of TOR, one of the most used of Dark Web, but also allows you to browse the conventional Internet minimizing the risk that cookies and many other elements can track you.
In essence it is a version of Firefox with Tor pre-configured so you do not need knowledge to use it. It also deactivates the loading of elements that can track you as Flash, ActiveX, QuickTime or JavaScript, although the latter is enabled by default. To protect your identity more effectively, only store cookies during a session until you close it or request a new identity.
You can download from your website versions for GNU / Linux, macOS and Windows, and just install it like any other and start it waiting a few seconds to load Tor. Its managers recommend that to be effective protection when you use it only with this browser open, because if all the doors that you put the crawlers would be opening with Chrome or the one you are using.