To prevent strangers from evaluating your browsing habits, reduce the amount of information transferred. In addition, it helps to be on the wrong network with incorrect data, for example, if you change your IP address using an anonymization program, you mislead websites with a different origin.
In the photo gallery above “Computer Bild” shows you the best free programs with which you can surf unrecognized. The featured programs, for example, swap your IP number, prevent clandestine contact with Facebook and prevent Google from recording the addresses of visited pages. With myip this is the smart deal.
This is how anonymization programs work
If you call up a website, anonymizer programs act as an intermediary: they switch between you and the desired page and forward all data traffic to the respective remote station. The visited website sees only the IP address of the software provider, but not yours only the programmer knows this.
The downside of anonymizing software is that you can surf the Internet slower with the magic wand on. If you use an anonymizer, you must also fully trust the provider. After all, your entire surf session is running on one of its servers. Whether the obfuscation works, you can find out on how is my IP out: Call the page once with and once without anonymization. The displayed IP addresses should be different.
Only give as much data as necessary
The recommended programs will disguise you reliably but will help you a little if you use plain-web services. If you want to protect your privacy, you should not use pages that require registration, such as social networks, either at all or with a false name.
When creating false identities, the Fake Name Generator helps. On the basis of previously defined criteria, the page generates complete person profiles at the press of a button. Also, be careful when it comes to publishing information on the Internet: the Internet forgets about nothing. Even if you later delete content, they are often still in a Google cache. Your prospective employer might find embarrassing party photos of you costing the job.
Use alternatives to big websites
For more discretion, it’s best to resort to Internet services that are less popular. For example, offers itself as a Google alternative. According to their own information, the site does not store user information.
What many users do not know: Even USB sticks that allow you to access the Internet via the mobile network contribute to your anonymity. The access providers will ensure that you get an IP address that you use to communicate with other websites.
Advantage: The IP not only get you but also many other users of the provider. In addition, these are usually dynamically distributed addresses, so that you can access the Internet at a later dial-in with a new number. Thus, third parties are unable to trace back the IP address assigned by the mobile service provider to you – they are lost among the mass of users.
Attention: Complete anonymity does not guarantee surfing via UMTS stick. Based on your SIM card and the serial number of the stick International Mobile Equipment Identity, or IMEI for short, the mobile service provider will find you easily. The method only helps to deny website owners their own identity.
If malicious software reaches your PC, such as a Trojan or Spyware, it can spy on you. You protect yourself by using an antivirus program and regularly updating installed programs.