Updated: January 3, 2020 Home » Computer and Internet Security » VPN Virtual Private Network
- Best Browser No Tracking Device
- Best Browser No Tracking Software
- Non Tracking Browser
- Best Browser No Tracking
- Best Browser No Tracking Devices
Similar to others, the Ghostery browser extension will detect and block tracking technologies in order to provide you with a faster, clutter-free, and more private browsing experience. The best thing about Comodo Dragon Browser is that it by default blocks all trackers, web spies, cookies, and every other thing that is responsible to explore your identity. Not just that, but Comodo Dragon Browser also comes with a built-in domain validation technology that effectively detects weak SSL certificates.
How to hide your IP address while browsing the internet? There are various options, you can subscribe to a VPN service or use a browser that comes with this feature. Tor is the most well known software that mask your IP address, for those using Google Chrome and doesn’t want to migrate to a new browser, using the Tor extension works too but somewhat defeat the purpose as the browser still tracks your movement. For those into watching the 東京 Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics games live online, there is a good chance these free VPN might work.
- The Brave browser uses a form of the same software as Google Chrome, called Chromium, but is a browser that blocks adverts, trackers, and cookies, by default. It’s often described as a “fork” of Google Chrome, software that is built similarly but went in its own more unique direction.
- The Brave browser was designed to make privacy simple enough for everyone. It is an open source browser built on top of Chromium (an open source version of the Chrome browser), which means it’s easy for Chrome users to make the switch. However, unlike Chrome, Brave does not collect any data about your online activity.
Alternative 2020 Article ➤ 6 Free Anti NSA Anonymity Tools – Stops Tracking And Hides IP Address
If you are looking for ways to bypass the internet monitoring in your office, university, school, or public library, these browser with even more security and privacy enhancement will block most tracking via proxy, or a VPN. Defend yourself against tracking, spying and surveillance. Circumvent censorship with these anonymous browser that mask your IP Address and identity via proxy. Perhaps the best way to stay 100% untraceable and invisible is to use a no log VPN services on a public wifi, if possible on a laptop purchased via cash.
Can I be tracked if I use incognito mode? The short answer is yes. You’re tracked by Google, by your ISP, your government and hundreds of data collectors while in incognito or other private browsing modes. Your browsing history is easily accessible (via your DNS cache) upon incognito window close. Incognito mode simply delete your browsing history and cookie after you close the browser in your computer, that’s all.
↓ 01 – Tor Project [ The Best ] Windows macOS Linux Android
With Tor Browser, you are free to access sites your home network may have blocked. They believe everyone should be able to explore the internet with privacy. They are the Tor Project, a 501(c)3 US nonprofit. They advance human rights and defend your privacy online through free software and open networks.
The Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked.
- Block Trackers – Tor Browser isolates each website you visit so third-party trackers and ads can’t follow you. Any cookies automatically clear when you’re done browsing. So will your browsing history.
- Defend Against Surveillance – Tor Browser prevents someone watching your connection from knowing what websites you visit. All anyone monitoring your browsing habits can see is that you’re using Tor.
- Resist Fingerprinting – Tor Browser aims to make all users look the same making it difficult for you to be fingerprinted based on your browser and device information.
- Multi-Layered Encryption – Your traffic is relayed and encrypted three times as it passes over the Tor network. The network is comprised of thousands of volunteer-run servers known as Tor relays.
↓ 02 – Opera Windows macOS Linux Android
Opera is the first and still only major browser that integrates a free, unlimited VPN service, allowing you to focus on the content that matters without fear of losing privacy. With Opera’s VPN turned on, your IP address will be replaced with a virtual one, making it harder for websites to track your location and identify your computer. Many tracking cookies will also be blocked.
- Free, unlimited, and with no subscription – Enhanced online privacy is a right for everyone. Our free, built-in VPN requires no subscription, payment, or additional extensions.
- Shield your browsing in public networks – Surfing on free, public Wi-Fi in airports, cafes, and event venues is a treat, but it can also be a danger. Using VPN shields your activity from being sniffed out by other users sharing the network.
- Search locally while on VPN – Disguising your IP address throws off trackers from knowing your location, but your online search results can be influenced as well. Not so with Opera’s VPN! It offers an automatic way for your online searches to bypass your virtual location to your actual location, giving you relevant results – then, you can continue to your target destination over VPN.
Best Browser No Tracking Device
↓ 03 – Brave (with Tor Tab) Windows macOS Linux Android
The new Brave browser blocks ads and trackers that slow you down and invade your privacy. Discover a new way of thinking about how the web can work. Brave never remembers what you do in a Private Window. With Tor, your browsing is also hidden from your ISP or employer, and your IP address is hidden from the sites you visit.
Tor hides your IP address from the sites you visit, by routing your browsing through several Tor servers before it reaches your destination. These connections are encrypted, so your ISP or employer can’t see which sites you’re visiting either. Tor can slow down browsing and some sites might not work at all.
↓ 04 – Epic Privacy Browser Windows macOS
Epic’s Encrypted Proxy is a free built-in VPN that protects your browsing history from your ISP & other data collectors and secures you on public WiFi. Epic Privacy Browser blocks ads, trackers, fingerprinting, cryptomining, ultrasound signaling and more. Stop 600+ tracking attempts in an average browsing session. Turn on network privacy with our free VPN (servers in 8 countries).
Behind a VPN, your real IP address can leak through certain types of WebRTC calls — only Epic blocks them. Even if your IP address is hidden, tens of thousands of websites use fingerprinting techniques such as accessing image canvas data to track you. Epic blocks fingerprinting scripts and functions like image canvas data access to protect you which no browser extension can do. There is no combination of settings changes and browser addons which provides the same level of protection, let alone the ease and speed of use that Epic does.
- Blocks Cryptomining – Blocks scripts which can use your CPU and GPU to mine for cryptocurrency.
- Removes Social Media Tracking Buttons – Removes social media buttons which may track and aggregate your browsing history across many websites.
- Blocks Tracking Scripts – Refuses requests to load tracking and fingerprinting scripts.
- No Tracking – Eleven different ways from ID numbers to server-based services which can be used to know what you browsed
- One-Click Encrypted Proxy – Click the red open socket icon to turn on Epic’s built-in encrypted proxy. This hides your IP address (with a U.S -based IP) and encrypts all your data when you want to be very private.
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Is the developer a non-profit? Non-profits don’t have a profit motive driving them, so they have less incentive to squeeze money out of users by collecting and selling their data or doing anything similar.
Best Browser No Tracking Software
Does the browser warn you about website add-ons? Website add-ons can be both malicious and suspicious – and you want a browser that can catch them before they do damage.
Can you disable loading scripts? Choosing to disable loading scripts can break some websites, but it also makes you more secure against attacks.
Does it block fingerprinting? If you want the website to display correctly, your browser has to send some data to it, like your screen resolution, OS, and location. This becomes your digital fingerprint used to track you online.
Does it block malware/phishing? A good privacy browser will draw on lists of known malware and phishing addresses to automatically block them.
Is it open source? Open source allows security experts and other nerds to look into the browser’s code and see if the developer had baked in any malicious functions – or left severe security gaps.
Does it scan downloads? Even the files you download voluntarily could be dangerous.
Does it have integrated adblock w/tracking prevention? You can install extensions and add-ons to block ads and prevent tracking, but it’s safer and more convenient if the browser does it natively.
Can you toggle cleaning history and cookies after every session? While cleaning history and cookies after a session is an excellent way to keep tracking at bay and maintain privacy, not everyone might want that by default.
Choose the best browser for privacy
1. Brave
- Is the developer a non-profit? No
- Does the browser warn you about website add-ons? Yes
- Can you disable loading scripts? Yes
- Does it block fingerprinting? Yes
- Does it block malware/phishing? Yes
- Is it open source? Yes
- Does it scan downloads? No
- Does it have integrated adblock w/tracking prevention? Yes
- Can you toggle cleaning history and cookies after every session? Yes
Brave was launched in 2016 by some of the key people that had previously worked on Mozilla Firefox. Its standout feature is the Brave Rewards System that gives users Basic Attention Tokens (BATs) for viewing “privacy-respecting” ads and then tips those tokens to websites and creators, who can turn them into money.
However, Brave has been involved in two scandals. The first one was about Brave pocketing donations of BATs to creators that hadn’t opted-in to their program, which was eventually fixed. The second issue arose when people noticed Brave adding affiliate links to cryptocurrency URLs that users entered. Brave claimed this happened due to a bug in the autocomplete function and has since fixed it.
Recommended: if the controversies don’t scare you, yes.
2. Mozilla Firefox
- Is the developer a non-profit? Yes
- Does the browser warn you about website add-ons? Yes
- Can you disable loading scripts? Yes
- Does it block fingerprinting? Yes
- Does it block malware/phishing? Yes
- Is it open source? Yes
- Does it scan downloads? Yes
- Does it have integrated adblock w/tracking prevention? No
- Can you toggle cleaning history and cookies after every session? Yes
Mozilla Firefox launched 18 years and has always been among the top choices when it comes to browsers. Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization that owns the Mozilla Corporation, a subsidiary which develops the browser. Funding is mostly received via contracts with corporations like Google for the default browser search engine position.
Mozilla doesn’t block ads by default, but it has many extensions that do – even the official website tells you so. However, the 2020 layoffs in the Corporation imperilled the future of the browser.
Recommended: if you’re feeling optimistic about the future, yes.
3. Tor Browser
- Is the developer a non-profit? Yes
- Does the browser warn you about website add-ons? Yes
- Can you disable loading scripts? Yes
- Does it block fingerprinting? Yes
- Does it block malware/phishing? No
- Is it open source? Yes
- Does it scan downloads? No
- Does it have integrated adblock w/tracking prevention? Yes
- Can you toggle cleaning history and cookies after every session? Yes
The Tor Browser was announced in 2008, and it’s the main method of using the Tor network for increased security and anonymity. It’s based on a customized Firefox base, and while it supports installing extensions, users are advised not to. This would compromise the browser’s security, and Tor Browser aims at keeping the user secure and private at all costs.
The big downside of Tor Browser is that the Tor Network is very slow. It’s not great for media consumption, and the developers are asking people not to use torrents with Tor. At the same time, the Tor network is based on anonymous volunteer nodes, and it has been discovered that 23% of Tor exit nodes are owned by a single user who uses it to steal cryptocurrency.
Recommended: if you don’t care about the exit node issue and privacy matters literally more than anything else, yes.
4. DuckDuckGo
- Is the developer a non-profit? No
- Does the browser warn you about website add-ons? No
- Can you disable loading scripts? No
- Does it block fingerprinting? Yes
- Does it block malware/phishing? No
- Is it open source? Yes
- Does it scan downloads? No
- Does it have integrated adblock w/tracking prevention? Yes
- Can you toggle cleaning history and cookies after every session? Yes
DuckDuckGo was launched in 2008. Unfortunately, it’s not a non-profit organization, and the HQ is situated in the US. However, the search engine that’s now available as a browser add-on for desktops, as well as standalone mobile browsers, has a lot to offer. For example, each website gets a rating on its privacy (including policies), and you can easily see what trackers were blocked.
How does DuckDuckGo earn money? From their advertising affiliates. The creators claim that the ads shown to you when searching for stuff online will be tailored to that search only. So there are no persistent tracking ads. The browser also allows you to purge history and cookies at any moment.
Recommended: if you care about privacy more than security on your phone, then yes.
But why can’t I use Chrome/Edge/Safari?
Many of the popular browsers are good browsers when it comes to usability. They have features that provide a lot of ease of life – but you also have privacy tradeoffs. Your data is worth a lot of money, and their developers aren’t non-profits. Therefore, your regular browsers may have difficulty keeping up when it comes to privacy – if they’re interested in that at all.
Here are the issues with the most prominent named browsers:
Google Chrome
Google Chrome has file download scanning, malware blacklists, and so on. In exchange, you are being wrung for information by Google, especially if you have logged into Chrome. And that’s the price you’re paying to use the browser. If you’re OK with that, you’ll be glad to learn that Google keeps updating the browser with features that will make it harder for non-Google-affiliated entities to track you.
Safari
It’s one of the big choices available to Apple users… and nobody else. Safari is actually not that bad – it even ditched the faulty Do Not Track technology when it turned out that it doesn’t work and even enables other tracking types. But while Safari joins the ranks of browsers that tell you that you’re being tracked, it is still not an open-source project, and it belongs to one of the biggest tech companies in the world… which was compromised by the NSA. Then again, it’s possible that Apple collects very little, so it all depends on your personal choice.
Edge
Non Tracking Browser
Microsoft’s replacement for Internet Explorer uses Chromium, so it’s at least based on open-source tech. And that’s where the upsides end. Scientists have evaluated Edge to be among the least privacy-respecting mainline browsers. More than that, Microsoft is using techniques that have been called “malware-like” to push Edge on their users. That’s not a great look for a browser that was plagued with privacy issues basically from the word “go.”
Opera
Opera offers quite a few features – even Mozilla’s own comparison shows that Opera only lags behind by not having social tracking blockers. However, Opera isn’t open-source (even if it’s based on Chromium), isn’t operated by a non-profit, and was recently purchased by a Chinese tech giant. That’s one country with more issues with respecting online privacy than even the US. Oh, and the free Opera VPN it comes bundled with? Basically, a proxy that also collects your data.
Best Browser No Tracking
Privacy beyond browsers
Best Browser No Tracking Devices
It turns out that it’s not that easy to find the best browser for privacy. And even then, are you really secure on the net? You can always enhance your privacy even further – by getting a VPN and securing all the data that leaves your device. Surfshark VPN is just the thing – and it will work on any platform your privacy browser can support. It even has browser extensions that work with Brave, Firefox, and Chrome!