You may have heard that the Big Tech is keeping up with every move you make on the Internet. We’re sad to say it’s true – the likes of Google and Facebook are following all of us online and not just when we’re using their services, but also on other websites across the web.
They use cookies and pixel trackers to understand our browsing habits so they could later on serve us personalized ads. This way, brands entice us to buy with greater success and we end up spending money that we wouldn’t otherwise spend.
The main tool advertisers use to track us comes in the form of cookies which can further be enhanced with personal information to create a compelling digital profile of everyone.
Luckily, there is a way to fight back and that’s what this article is all about. Here’s what you can do to prevent advertisers from tracking you online:
Protect against cookies
When you log out of some service and then delete cookies related to that website (or all cookies), you make it that much harder for advertisers to track you down let alone identify you.
That may sound easy, but it still won’t make you that much anonymous as your IP address won’t change in the meantime. This technique is called “browser fingerprinting” and it allows advertisers to probabilistically track you across websites.
It relies on the data every web browser sends to the website(s) you visit. This data includes information such as selected language, operating system, web browser version and the mentioned IP address. Combined, this information will still let advertisers know who you really are and what kind of products and services you’re more willing to buy.
Except, that is, if you’re using a VPN which will change your IP address and could also provide additional anonymizing features.
Use a privacy-focused web browser
Forget Chrome, get a different browser. The best options include Safari, Epic, Brave and even Firefox. Or if you insist on using Chrome, get an extension such as uBlock Origin and the Privacy Badger which will block third party cookies and trackers.
Nevertheless, we do advise dumping Chrome as it is owned by Google, and could provide the search engine giant with additional details you may not be aware of.
Even if you love your existing extensions, you can use them with Brave as it is based on the same engine as Chrome – Chromium. This way, you don’t have to sacrifice the experience you got accustomed to in order to protect your privacy online.
Sign out of Google or Facebook
Once you get yourself a more privacy friendly browser, it’s time to sign out of Facebook, Google and Twitter. If you have to do something with these services, keep them in separate incognito tabs so that their cookies remain “stuck” in that window.
As we have noted above, Google and Facebook extend their tracking beyond their own websites. And by logging out of them, you make it harder for advertisers to identify you as an individual interested in certain goods and services (for which you would be seeing a ton of ads).
Get a VPN
This should probably be your first step – to get a VPN. Once installed on your devices — cause you should put it on your computer, phone, tablet and any other device you may have — it will assign you a different IP address which will trick the trackers into thinking that you’re in a different place. In fact, you can use a VPN to fool trackers into “thinking” that you’re in another country. BTW, this same capability lets VPN users access sites and services that would otherwise be outside of their reach. It’s a handy tool in high-censorship countries as well as in workplaces and schools where IT admins limit what kind of content users can access.
But the most important benefit of a VPN, or so we think, is its ability to keep you anonymous online, to prevent advertisers from bombarding you with ads. Plus, a VPN also makes it harder for other parties like various government agencies from tracking you on the Internet.
It is our belief that everyone should be using a VPN these days. And if you still haven’t found a service for your unique needs, we suggest checking out our page with Best of the Best VPNs. All services listed on that page have been field-tested for years and won’t let you down, no matter what you throw at them. Check ’em out… And never look back.