8 Privacy Tools to Stay Anonymous Online

Staying anonymous online is on every Internet user’s mind but only a few achieve it. This may be due to a lack of access to resources, awareness, or the know-how to create a protected atmosphere around their web activities. Discussions about virtual private networks and why they are the need of the hour continue to happen, but dependable VPNs cost money. That leaves a lot of netizens vulnerable to the hostile elements of the web that are a threat to their privacy.

Thankfully, there are alternative, economical ways to cover yourself while you surf online. We have discussed this before on quite a few occasions, but we feel a go-to list of reliable privacy tools and resources will do good to you – our readers.

So, here’s a list of some of the best privacy tools and websites recommended by TuxlerVPN. These include our browser extensions, a few open-source tools that are industry standards, and some underrated single-purpose tools. 

List of Useful Privacy Tools and Resources

The best way to stay protected online is to use a couple of these resources together. In any case, using just one tool may not be enough to get protection from snooping, malware, or other fraudulent activities. 

1. TuxlerVPN Browser Extensions

Our most popular offering – a VPN extension for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox – has millions of users worldwide. The extensions are free to use and add you to a pool of residential IPs in return for 100% residential VPN.

Most users who have our extension installed upgrade to TuxlerVPN Premium to get complete protection. This is one way to get high-level privacy cover with a single tool.

1. Disposable Email Addresses

Ever visited a website to get some information but were instead asked to share your email ID? We bet that has happened to you in the past week. It’s more common these days – where websites demand your email ID and/or phone number just for some information in return. And it’s not fair.

The best way to tackle such websites is to use a disposable email address (DEA). Dispostable.com is a simple, free service that lets you create a @dispostable.com with any word as a prefix. For example, you could create temp@dispostable.com and use an inbox for free.

It’s a great way to sign up on such websites for one-time use. 

1. Password Managers

If you are indeed signing up on websites, there’s another thing to be cautious about: passwords. Since it’s wise to use a different password every time, managing all of them can be a task. Even if you are a minimalist netizen, you can expect to memorize upwards of 10 different passwords, including the ones for your online financial platforms.

The easiest way to manage them all is to use a password manager. It basically encrypts and stores all your passwords in one place (usually on the cloud) so that you can access them anytime from anywhere. This is then secured with a master password, which can be further protected using 2FA (see below). It’s best to use a paid or community-powered password manager to get the best service as free ones are not too reliable. We recommend open-source password manager Password Safe.

1. Two-Factor Authenticators

The FIDO Alliance is trying to revolutionize the way we handle passwords and access. But till then, we can depend on two-factor authentication (2FA) to add another security layer to our critical applications. Tools like Google Authenticator and Yubico are industry favorites.

If you are wary of using yet another tool, look for 2FA in your existing programs. Many providers such as Google and SAP already have strong authentication systems built-in.

1. uBlock Origin

uBlock Origin is perhaps the only ad-blocking and content filtering software that you need. This way you can take control of the secondary and behavioral data that you often unknowingly share with websites and avoid annoying, often intrusive ads from obstructing your browsing. Of course, we recommend whitelisting those websites that you want to support. But for everything else, while web surfing, uBlock Origin is a must-have. It is open-source, and therefore, free.

1. Private Search Engines

Google arguably has the best indexing capability. So, you are more likely to find what you are looking for there than on any other search engine. But when it comes to random look-ups like the meaning of words or a fact check, you should use private search engines. They not only have a no-logs policy but are less hostile than their popular counterparts.

You may consider DuckDuckGo to start with.

1. HTTPS Everywhere

Wondering why we keep calling the Internet hostile? Well, one reason is that some websites don’t always load their HTTPS versions even if they can. They instead load their HTTP versions, thereby putting your communication with them bare open, and therefore, vulnerable. HTTPS Everywhere forces these websites to use HTTPS no matter what. In other words, it makes your web browsing more secure.

HTTPS Everywhere is open-source and is free to download as an extension. Most browsers are supported.

1. ToS;DR

This is one of our favorite privacy resources around. Since almost all privacy policies of websites and software are long and tedious to consume, we often tend to ignore and blindly accept them. This can be problematic because you won’t know what exactly the terms are and how much access the website or software has to your personal data.

Solution? ToS:DR. Simply go to ToS;DR, enter the name of the service you are using and read a summarized version of its privacy policy. It not only grades the services according to their hostility but also lists out the most important points that you can skim through in under a minute. A nifty resource to bookmark.

For more interesting guides that help safeguard your privacy online, keep exploring the TuxlerVPN blog.

Disclaimer: We have tried to avoid mentioning commercial tools due to a potential conflict of interest. Feel free to look up alternatives to the resources that we have mentioned.

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