Using third-party ad blockers, onion routing, and other security features, the most secure web browsers safeguard your online identity.
Web browsers have become inundated with ad-sponsored content, making them a crucial battleground for user privacy. While Chrome is the most popular browser in the world, there are other browsers and security-enhancing methods available to help you remain anonymous online.
Today, data is an essential ingredient for generating revenue. Web browsing histories can be used by online advertising companies to fingerprint individual browsers over time, creating shadow user profiles that disclose information such as a user’s interests, product searches, and more — which can lead to targeted advertising.
Mozilla researchers conducted a study with 52,000 Firefox users in 2020 that revealed it is more difficult than ever to maintain complete online privacy. They cautioned that Google and Facebook’s stranglehold on online advertising makes re-identification through browsing histories an even more urgent privacy issue today.
When searching for a browser that prioritizes privacy, you should investigate how advertising trackers and cookies are handled, whether search histories are stored or shared, and whether the browser developer has a transparent privacy policy.
Brave Browsers
Brave is a browser that is built on Chromium. By default, it blocks ads, fingerprinting, and ad trackers.
Brave helps millions of people all over the world. The business plan of the organization is based on ads that protect users’ privacy and pay publishers and users when users pay attention to ads. The company is open about this way of making money, and people can choose to do it or not. If they do, they will get crypto tokens as a reward.
Brave has a number of choices that protect your privacy, such as the ability to block third-party ad trackers, change unsecured connections to HTTPS, and block cookies and fingerprinting. When annoying ads and trackers are turned off, the company says that both PC and mobile loading times get faster.
Brave took out some Google code from Chromium to protect the privacy of its users. These changes included account integration, background sync, and inline extensions. There is also a “Tor mode” that can be used to route the onion network anonymously.
The company that makes the browser also has a VPN and firewall service that protects sessions even when they are not being used in the browser.
Unlinkable Bouncing is the name of a new feature that is now available on Brave. The developer says that when you’re about to go to a privacy-harming or suspicious website, your session is routed through temporary browser storage so that the site can’t find out who you are. Instead, you’ll look like a unique, first-time user, which helps keep your visit anonymous.
Brave will also start rolling out a feature called “Off the Record” (OTR), which was made with the help of users who may have been the victims of domestic abuse. The developer of the browser says that this tool is meant to help people “hide their browsing habits from others who have access to their computer or phone.”
Mozilla Firefox Browser
Firefox is a must-have if you want to keep your browser private on more than one device.
Better defense against tracking is one of the most important privacy features of Firefox. Mozilla has also used methods from Tor to stop browser fingerprinting, and Firefox developers are always trying to improve features that make it harder to track people.
Firefox gives you a lot of ways to make the browser private. Standard enhanced tracking protection stops social media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, tracking in private windows, crypto miners, and fingerprinting scripts. There is also a “strict” mode that could break some sites if trackers are hidden in the content. However, there are ways to let trusted sites have better tracking safety.
Firefox Focus is another choice for people who like Firefox. It is a browser for iOS and Android that focuses on privacy. It blocks trackers and has an ad blocker built in.
Mozilla also has a VPN that lets you connect up to five devices to more than 500 sites in over 30 different countries.
When Firefox 113 comes out, it will be easier for people to use. The code has been updated so that people who use screen readers and other assistive technologies can get to the information they need faster.
Tor Browser
This is what the Tor browser has: Onion routing, inclusion of DuckDuckGo, and access to websites that are not on the clear web
The Tor browser is another great way to protect your privacy on the web. It is a non-profit project whose goal is to make people anonymous online.
Its web browser sends a user’s IP address and behavior through a network of servers (called “nodes”) that are run by volunteers. By sending your information to so many different places, it makes it very hard to keep track of, which is great if you don’t want your ISP or anyone else to watch what you do online.
Tor can be a very important tool for spies, journalists, activists, and anyone else who wants to avoid being censored. The Tor browser is also a common way to get to the “deep web,” which is a group of websites and pages that you can’t get to with traditional tools like search engines on the “clear” web.
The default search engine for the Tor browser is DuckDuckGo, which does not log or keep your searches.
Even though it’s not a popular browser, the Tor browser is a good choice for people who don’t want to be tracked across the web, and the Tor Project keeps it up-to-date. Infrastructure changes are what the developers are working on right now.
Because of how the Tor network is set up, it can take longer for pages to load in the Tor browser, and some sites might not work well. Still, the Tor browser is a good choice if you want to protect your privacy.
DuckDuckGo Browser
DuckDuckGo puts the safety of its users first.
The privacy-focused search engine is a vocal backer of consumer privacy rights and now handles millions of search queries from users every day.
The popularity of DuckDuckGo and the growth of the encrypted messaging app Signal show that people want more privacy-focused options to Facebook and Google. The Privacy Essentials add-on for Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge from DuckDuckGo has also been used a lot. Its reputation is based on the fact that it doesn’t store information about its users, but it can still give the same search results as those that do.
DuckDuckGo is not a full browser; it is a search engine. However, the software is still suggested as an extension or as a mobile solution. The organization’s mobile app has a secret search, website protection and blockers, web encryption, and more.
Microsoft’s web tracking defenses have caused some trouble in the past, but after a big uproar, DuckDuckGo promised to be more open and make changes to the way it protects against third-party tracker loading.
A browsing app for the Mac is in the test stage of development right now. A secret beta for Windows machines is also available. DuckDuckGo is also trying out tools that use AI to help improve the search experience.
Mullvad Browser
Mullvad is a new browser that aims to be safe.
The Mullvad Browser is advertised as the “Tor Browser without the Tor network.” This is not to be confused with the Tor browser. The Tor Project team makes the browser, and Mullvad, a well-known Swedish virtual private network provider, gives it to people.
The idea behind the browser is to make it work like the Tor network by giving all users the same “fingerprint.” This makes it easier to stay anonymous. Also, the browser has a private mode right out of the box. It blocks tracking and cookies, and it stops online functions, like device identifiers, that are used to get information from users.
You can use the browser on its own, or you can use it together with Mullvad VPN.
But you should remember that the National Operations Department (NOA) of the Swedish Police recently got a search order for Mullvad.
The visit was related to a “blackmail attack that hit several municipal institutions in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in October 2021.” “During the investigation, which is still going on,” the organization said, “an IP address was found that led to the VPN service Mullvad.”
Staff at Mullvad say that law enforcement was left with nothing (and no customer information) because there was no client data.
How did we select these private browsers?
We contrasted these browsers and extensions to determine what differentiates them and which is optimal for various use cases.
The balance between managing user privacy and funding a business can be difficult for businesses to strike, but as we’ve demonstrated, many developers are willing to prioritize user security over potential revenue-generating opportunities.
How does a private browser function?
A privacy browser erases your browsing and search history and cookies automatically. It may also limit web monitoring and, in some cases, conceal your location (IP address). Privacy-focused browsers may also encourage the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and may include features designed to circumvent censorship and keep users as anonymous as possible, such as access to onion routing and refusal to register site visits or web searches.
Do I need a private web browser?
If you are concerned about your online privacy, you should install a browser or extension that prioritizes privacy. Today, we are responsible for our own online privacy, and we cannot rely on companies to protect it for us.
We can suggest the following fundamental steps: Download one of the above-mentioned browsers that does not log your queries and activities, install a VPN, and use messaging applications with end-to-end encryption to protect your privacy. Moreover, if you want to keep your email communications private, you should consider a service like Proton Mail that encrypts messages.
Does using a private window for perusing conceal my IP address?
An incognito window in Chrome does not conceal your IP address. It simply does not store your browser history, information inputted into forms, or permissions granted to visited websites. Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Opera all use a similar “anonymous” web window for perusing, but they do not effectively conceal your online identity.
If you want to prevent your IP address from being viewed or tracked, you can obtain a virtual private network (VPN), which masks your IP address so that your service provider (or anyone else) cannot see what you’re doing.
What is the most prevalent risk to personal web security?
The truth? Putting information about yourself or how to reach you on social media. If you put your full name, phone number, address, or place of work anywhere on social media, someone can use that information to mess with your personal accounts.
To stop this from happening, try not to use your real name online, turn off location tracking, and don’t talk about where you work if you can help it. Someone with bad motives only needs one piece of personal information to access your entire online presence. If you post photos of yourself away from home and on vacation, for example, you’re telling people that your home is vulnerable.
Are there any other sites that you should think about?
Privacy and safety online are hot topics right now. The amount of information that is quietly collected on each of us is mind-boggling, and you may not even know it if you only see targeted ads.
The sites we suggested above can make it harder for people to track you and watch what you do online, but no browser is perfect.
