Online Anonymity Explained: 10 Tools for Anonymous Browsing
Is true anonymity possible online?
As more companies and governments threaten our online privacy, people are looking for more ways to browse the internet with increased privacy or total anonymity.
We will therefore explore why people are choosing to browse the web anonymously, why it’s important, and popular tools to browse the web with increased privacy or total anonymity.
Table of contents
- Use a VPN
- Browsers
- Operating systems
- Search engine
- Messaging
- Payments
- Cloud storage
- Social media
- Extensions
What is anonymity?
To start with, anonymity is defined as:
“The situation in which someone's name is not given or known.”
And privacy as:
“Someone's right to keep their personal matters and relationships secret.”
If we apply these definitions to online anonymity, it means you use, or want to use, the internet without revealing your identity. For example, posting on an online forum without sharing personal information keeps you anonymous.
In contrast, if you want online privacy, you want control over what personal information is shared and with whom. This means limiting data exposure by adjusting privacy settings on social media or other accounts to restrict what information others can see.
In summary, anonymity hides identity, while privacy protects personal information.
This article will focus on anonymity and tools for browsing the web anonymously. You can learn more about the difference from our article on Anonymity vs Privacy.
Why anonymity is becoming increasingly important
Being anonymous online gives you more control over your data and protects you against cyberattacks.
It also allows people to express their views without fear of repercussions. In the past, anonymity has helped protect whistleblowers and activists who revealed information that changed society's view of privacy.
Social media
A 2024 report shows that 79% of users worry about social media tracking their web activity. This concern is also becoming deeper, as platforms like X use their AI, Grok AI, to scan and use public tweets, which could contain personal or sensitive data, to train their AI model.
Cyberbullying is also a prevalent problem in social media communities, with women or other marginalized groups being most affected.
Other reasons for wanting to be anonymous online include escaping personalized algorithms designed to influence public opinions.
Another reason people may want to remain anonymous is to prevent employers, schools, or other parties from finding their social media profiles, as 70% of hiring managers will search for your profiles online, which could prevent you from getting a new job or losing your current one.
Data collection
Global data creation reached 149 zettabytes (149 trillion terabytes) in 2024, heightening the risk of data breaches, which lead to identity theft, fraud, and more.
Anonymity and privacy can prevent companies from collecting and sharing your data and stop targeted ads for increased protection from data breaches.
Doxing
Doxing releases private information from somebody, such as their home address, phone number, email, etc, without consent. It can happen as revenge from a personal relationship or from gathering data from social media, public records, data breaches, or social engineering.
Approximately 24% of online adults reported being victims of doxing, with a majority of incidents involving personal contact details being posted on social media platforms or public websites.
Doxxing can lead to severe consequences such as harassment, identity theft, and violence.
In November of 2024, an Australian woman was arrested linked to the mass doxxing of over 500 Jewish community members, resulting in widespread harassment of the victims involved.
Cases like this are why many marginalized communities choose anonymity online to prevent threats like doxing.
Whistleblowing
Corporations and governments have consistently shown that they cannot be trusted, as evidenced by many famous whistleblowing events over the years.
Anonymity guarantees protection for these groups looking to expose unethical practices, like corruption or human rights violations or corruption without the risk of facing jail time.
Famous cases of whistleblowing events include:
- Edward Snowden, 2013
Perhaps the most famous and well-known case of whistleblowing is the Edward Snowden case.
Snowden was a contractor for the NSA, and in 2013, he leaked classified information revealing information about global surveillance programs. This caused massive debates about privacy rights, and many new privacy laws were introduced because of Snowden’s work.
2. Frances Haugen, 2021
Haugen worked as a product manager for Facebook and disclosed internal documents to The Wall Street Journal.
She exposed how Facebook’s algorithms would promote misinformation, hate speech, and other harmful discourse to prioritize engagement and increase profits at the cost of user well-being and safety.
Facebook was aware of its algorithms' negative impact on society but failed to make necessary changes because it cared more about its financial interests than its users.
How to increase or get total anonymity online
Whether you want full privacy or anonymity online, these tools will help increase your security and allow anonymous and private browsing to protect your data from prying eyes.
Use a VPN
A private VPN can increase your online anonymity dramatically. An encrypted VPN prevents hackers, and one with a no-logs policy ensures the company cannot monitor your internet activity.
A VPN wil also hide your IP address to prevent threats like doxing, prevent your data from being collected, and show you targeted ads. It also allows more freedom and access to content and websites that may be banned in certain countries.
Internxt VPN offers a private and encrypted VPN for increased privacy and anonymity online. It doesn’t monitor or collect any of your data, and your connection is secured by advanced, award-winning encryption.
You can try the VPN for free or get unlimited and ultra-fast speeds for up to 5 locations as part of any Internxt plan, which includes cloud storage and antivirus as part of your subscription or lifetime account.
Browsers
Chrome collects and uses your data for financial gain under the guise of offering a more “personalized experience.” So switching browsers is always recommended whether you’re looking for increased anonymity or privacy.
One popular browser for anonymity is Tor, which is well known for its use for people who want to search the dark web. Tor increases anonymity by preventing tracking, hiding user identities, and blocking third-party trackers.
Tor routes your traffic through multiple servers (nodes) to browse the web anonymously, as it is close to impossible to trace the traffic back to its origin.
Tor may be slower than traditional browsers, as it uses “onion routing,” which maximizes anonymity by encrypting your connection through multiple nodes. Each node in the chain only knows the previous and next node in the chain, ensuring that no single node can trace the entire route.
Each node decrypts one layer of encryption, revealing only the next destination in the chain. When the data reaches the final node, called the "exit node," the original request is completely unencrypted, and the data is forwarded to the intended destination.
For a more user-friendly browser, privacy-focused browsers like Brave offer built-in ad-blocking.
Operating systems
Although most operating systems will depend on Windows or Mac systems, other options are available. They may require some knowledge and work to set up, but the reward is worth the investment if you want more security or anonymity.
One alternative is Tails, or "The Amnesic Incognito Live System.” Tails is a security-focused Debian-based Linux distribution accessed via USB.
Tails aims to preserve privacy and anonymity against surveillance by routing internet traffic through the Tor network. It also ensures that all communications are anonymized and no data is stored permanently to prevent surveillance or tracking.
An encrypted email offers minimal to zero data collection and often avoids logging IP addresses, making it harder to trace communications back to a specific user.
The benefit of a private email is significantly greater for your data, as these service don’t scan your emails, so any kind of information you want to send via email is protected by end-to-end encryption.
Journalists, whistleblowers, or other privacy-focused individuals choose an encrypted email due to its private and anonymous advantages. Even so, the average internet user can benefit from a private email, as it prevents the data collection and monitoring of companies like Outlook and Gmail.
For a full list of private emails and their benefits, check out our blog article on encrypted email services.
In the upcoming months, Internxt will release Internxt Mail, a private and encrypted email service, so be sure to sign up for updates and be one of the first to access this private email service.
Search engine
Another tool you can adopt to increase your anonymity is by switching to services like DuckDuckGo, Startpage, or Brave Search. The latter operates independently from companies like Google to provide a more anonymous way to browse the web.
These search engines prevent advertisers and data brokers from building detailed profiles based on search behavior. They also protect your IP address and other personally identifiable information (PII).
Messaging
One option that is a more private alternative to WhatsApp or even Telegram, is Signal.
Signal uses end-to-end encryption for all messages so only the sender and recipient can read the messages.
One disadvantage for users looking for total anonymity with Signal is that it requires a phone number to sign up for its service.
However, Signal introduced usernames in February 2024, allowing users to connect without sharing their phone numbers by creating a unique username and preventing others from finding your Signal profile with your phone number.
Payments
Cryptocurrencies can protect your personal and financial information when sending or receiving payments online. Transactions are made between wallet addresses, so nobody’s identity or personal information is revealed.
It’s important to familiarize yourself with cryptocurrencies thoroughly and implement strong security measures to protect your wallets, as transactions are irreversible, and crypto wallets are a high-value target for hackers.
Cloud storage
Combined with Internxt VPN, Internxt allows you to store, share, sync, and back up your files with Internxt Drive.
Internxt lets you create an account anonymously and accepts cryptocurrency as payment for increased security and anonymity. Its platform is open-source for added transparency to view and guarantee there are no backdoors or access to data.
All your files are protected with zero-knowledge and post-quantum encryption. As the encryption keys are stored and managed on your device, nobody can access these files except you.
Internxt Drive is the perfect alternative to companies such as Google Drive for journalists or other industries looking to keep files anonymously, accessible only to them.
Social media
Due to past and current privacy concerns with Facebook and X (Twitter), there are other platforms or communities you can join for more anonymity or privacy.
Mastodon is a decentralized social media platform emphasizing privacy and user control. It operates differently from traditional social media networks by allowing users to create their own "instances" or servers, each with its own set of rules and policies.
For example, one popular instance is fosstodon.org, which is a community dedicated to people who are interested in free and open-source software (FOSS).
Extensions
For increased anonymity, these extensions offer the benefit of more security, privacy, and anonymous web surfing.
- uBlock Origin
A popular extension to block annoying and intrusive ads on YouTube and other websites. - HTTPS Everywhere
This extension forces websites to use secure HTTPS connections and encrypts your connection to protect against cyberattacks. - NoScript
NoScript is a highly customizable extension that allows users to block tracking from JavaScript, Java, and other plugins from running on websites. - Cookie AutoDelete
This extension automatically deletes cookies from websites you are no longer using to maintain a higher level of anonymity and privacy. - ClearURLs
ClearURLs automatically removes tracking parameters from URLs, preventing them from tracking your browsing habits.
Concerns and dangers of online anonymity
Unfortunately, not everybody has good intentions when using the web anonymously, so to protect yourself and others, it’s important to know the risks associated with some platforms that are designed with good intentions but may carry some negatives to your online activity.
Criminal activities
Tor is a famous example of cybercriminals using the platform for criminal activities. The Silk Road, which could be accessed from the dark web, was famously described as the Amazon of drug selling.
Due to its anonymous nature, it’s more difficult for law enforcement to track and monitor these activities. Hacking, identity theft, scams, and illegal trades are all a risk of the dark web. For whatever reason you need the dark web, it’s crucial you take extreme caution or face dire consequences.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying, trolling, and doxxing are other huge risks of forums, communities, or other platforms people can use anonymously.
As people feel they are free to say what they want without the risk of facing the consequences, it can have a drastic effect on a person’s mental health. If you or anyone you know faces cyberbullying, search online for cyberbullying helplines in your area and consider closing your accounts.
This guide on protecting your children online is also a helpful resource for parents.
Spread of extremism or misinformation
Another risk of anonymous communities and accounts is the spread of extreme views from terrorist groups to groom and recruit vulnerable people to their cause. Some communities are notorious for promoting extremist views and spreading misinformation with little to no accountability.
As a result, these can cause huge societal issues and add to the discrimination of marginalized groups, increase tensions between communities, and fuel inequalities, all of which create an environment of fear and mistrust.
Conclusion
If you opt for full anonymity online, it's important to be respectful to others and be aware of the dangers of anonymous communities or platforms like the dark web. Although challenging, browsing the web anonymously is possible, but it will require dedication on your part.
Thankfully, companies like Internxt and others are helping people gain more privacy to help them on their journey toward online privacy and anonymity. With the help of the tools we discussed in this article, you can protect your data and prevent government or corporate surveillance.