The Art of Hiding Your Identity Online

Local 8 October 2021

The internet is developing and expanding every day, and people are unknowingly putting their life on blast using it. That is why one must learn the art of hiding identities online.

Privacy on the internet is easily comprimised. But PC magazine explained that there are ways to hide your identity in online plain sight. Here is a breakthrough of the eight pieces of advice the magazine provides.

Phone Call Safety

There is a wide selection of apps specialised in hiding your calls on your smartphone. PCMag said that some apps provide you temporary, anonymous numbers you can use with Android or iOS like a burner phone.

Remember to turn on Firewall

Connecting your device to a broadband modem directly is a bad idea, says PCMag. You should always use a router on your home network to fight against attempted hacks. Routers have a built-in firewall after all.

Another firewall to rely on is firewall software installed on your PC. Windows 10 already comes with the effective ‘Windows Firewall’.

Hide your Location

Any website you visit will know your IP address, approximate physical location, time zone and used language.

In fact, you can visit MyBrowserInfo for a full report on what information your browser has on you. If your results are concerning, look up browser extensions, such as Ghostery, in Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Edge to enhance your privacy.

Browser Safety

Saving your passwords on your browser may be convenient for a time, but it may expose you to potential hackers. To prevent that from happening, turn off the password saving option in the browser.

You can instead get a dedicated password manager that works across all your devices, says PCMag. Moreover, browsers save other data on you unless you use the private browsing options, like Chrome Incognito.

Proxies and VPNs

You can fool any hacker that you are a different person living in a different area altogether, simply by using proxy servers and VPNs. Find the best VPN service for you – and keep it always turned on – to mask your device’s IP address and your location.

CroxyProxy is an example of a free proxy server you can use. VPNs usually require a payment, but you can’t put a price on safety, can you?

Anonymous Emailing

When you’re hiding online, you must pay attention to your emails as well as your browsers.

If you are willing to change email services to more secure ones, the best PCMag has seen is the free PreVeil. It offers fully encrypted emailing experience with a secure cloud storage.

But if you want to keep your Gmail account, you can download an extension for encryption. For example, Virtru is one that’s specific to Gmail running on Chrome. Otherwise, avoid emailing from browsers and opt for the pre-installed Mail app.

Avoid Spam

Never click a link in a spam email. Better yet, avoid opening spam emails at altogether. But how can you avoid receiving spam altogether?

Gmail offers a service in which you can use an “alias” email. This dummy email will be almost like a trash bin for spam. This can be easily done by taking your original email, say “bill@gmail.com”, into “bill+alias-name@gmail.com”.

Emails sent to the alias will be sent to your inbox, but spammers would not be able to access or know your original email.

Beware of Social Media

Facebook makes money by sending ads on your feed. That occasionally means it makes your data available to questionable entities, says PCMag.

To secure your Facebook account (at least partially) go to the Account menu in the upper right and select Settings & Privacy. This option is not currently available on the app, so you will have to use the desktop version. Edit all options to your preferred setting to hide your profile from unwanted eyes.

This can be applied on mostly all social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and so on.