Staying Anonymous Online: Advanced Privacy Protection Methods

In the digital age, privacy is becoming increasingly rare as more aspects of our lives move online. Our browsing histories, locations, communications and more leave extensive digital footprints that can be tracked and aggregated into detailed personal profiles by companies, governments and other entities.

While basic precautions like using a VPN, password manager and anti-tracking browsers like Tor provide a baseline level of privacy protection, those wanting to truly stay anonymous online often have to take more extreme measures given the sophistication of modern tracking and surveillance technologies. This essay explores some advanced methods and tools that can help protect one’s privacy and anonymity during a range of online activities.

Securing Communications

Encrypted Messaging Apps

When it comes to secure communications, free encrypted messaging apps like Signal and Wire provide state-of-the-art end-to-end encryption of messages, calls and files shared between users. This prevents interception of communications by internet service providers (ISPs), telecommunications companies, hackers and even the apps themselves. Metadata like who is contacting whom and when is also protected.

For added anonymity, encrypted email services like ProtonMail and Tutanota operate in a similar way but with disposable, randomly-generated email addresses rather than phone numbers identifying users. When creating accounts for these apps, avoid revealing any personal details and use internet connections that mask your IP address to avoid the apps themselves being able to determine your location or identity.

Disposable Phone Numbers

Even if using encrypted messaging apps, associating communications with your real phone number links online activities back to your identity. Temporary disposable phone numbers disconnected from your real identity can be purchased online or via apps specifically for the purposes of anonymous communication. However, be aware that many require an underlying real phone number verification first.

More advanced options include burner phones – cheap, non-contract cell phones with temporary prepaid SIM cards purchased anonymously with cash. Their IMEI device identification codes should be changed to mask their hardware identity using special software/services before activation under an anonymous made-up identity not traceable back to you. Only use them via public Wi-Fi and remove batteries when not in use to prevent passive location tracking.

Anonymous Internet Connections

Your IP address provides critical clues as to your real location and identity. Use a trustworthy VPN or proxy service to mask this, but be aware that some may keep logs of traffic and usage histories that can still compromise anonymity. Chain together multiple VPN connections from different providers for stronger anonymity, such as routing first through your own installed VPN server hosted overseas in permissive jurisdictions using anonymous business fronts, before chaining this to a commercial VPN provider and then the Tor network.

To access the internet itself anonymously, use public Wi-Fi networks not requiring authentication, email verification or SMS confirmation. Always use a firewall, disable network sharing/discovery and turn off automatic Wi-Fi connections on your devices when not accessing the internet to avoid background connectivity leaks revealing your location.

Ideally tap into other open internet connections not traceable directly to you, like an overlooked IoT smart device on a neighboring network with weak security – but beware that hacking into other networks can carry legal risks. More safely, a portable Wi-Fi hotspot connected to the internet via an anonymous 4G data plan not requiring personal details to activate provides a solid anonymous online access point.

Browsing the Web Privately

Search Engines and Websites

Your web browsing activities provide a wealth of information to providers regarding your location, interests and identity. Search privately using anonymity focused engines like DuckDuckGo and StartPage that don’t store IP addresses or personal user data. Disable cookies, JavaScript and location permissions in your browser at all times, clear caches/histories after each browsing session and avoid logging into online accounts like Google, Facebook or Amazon that can easily associate and aggregate your browsing activities.

For added protection, access search engines and websites through the Tor browser or a trustworthy privacy-focused VPN. Tor in particular hides your IP address by routing encrypted traffic through multiple relay servers making it very difficult to trace traffic back to your actual device location or identity. Be aware though that use of Tor also flags you to websites as having “something to hide” compared to regular visitors.

Device Fingerprinting

Your device’s specific hardware, software and browser configurations provide a unique fingerprint that allows trackers to identify you again in future browsing sessions even without cookies or logins. Use the Tor browser bundled with its Tail configuration tool that randomizes these details at intervals to provide complete browser anonymity not fixated to any one device identity. More advanced options are entire operating systems focused on anonymity like Tails that route all connectivity through Tor and allow booting different installations off external drives on the same device to appear as totally separate systems each time.

Securing Online Accounts

When creating any online accounts necessary despite best privacy practices, secure them properly against hacking, doxxing and identity leaks.

Use unique complex passwords for every account stored in a secured password manager. Enable 2FA authentication via an anonymous phone number or authentication app disconnected from your phone. Provide false personal details, usernames and profile data not traceable back to your real identity. Never link anonymous accounts or their contact channels to any existing social media, bank/utility account or phone numbers actually associated with you.

Maintaining separate anonymous and real online identities may require isolated device compartments accessed via different operating system user profiles or devices dedicated solely for private anonymous use depending on your threat model. Store no sensitive personal data on your anonymous identity devices/partitions whatsoever to maintain clear separation.

Covering Tracks

A common downfall for those seeking true anonymity online is failing to cover the tracks left behind by financial and commercial transactions that ultimately require interfacing with real-world non-anonymous elements all too happy to share your personal data.

Financial Privacy

Making anonymous payments online to register private domains or services often requires creatively masking any links to your real payment sources or banking identity:

• Prepaid debit/credit cards in false names purchased with cash are a simple option. More advanced users can establish overseas shell companies and corresponding international bank accounts detachable from their true identities.
• Services accepting anonymous cryptocurrency payments like Bitcoin provide more reliable anonymity as long as the coins themselves have already been laundered through coin tumblers and held for lengthy periods prior to hide any transaction history linking back to your identity. Again mixing with overseas exchanges and accounts adds further separation.
Anonymized Delivery Drops

When commercial goods/services require anonymous shipping to physical addresses not associated with you, establish secret drop locations to receive them:

• Complicit associates at their real residences so packages aren’t directly traceable to you.
• Temporary post office boxes or mail forwarding addresses setup under false anonymous identities and paid for with prepaid debit cards. Don’t use the same drop for long.
• If risking illegality – an overlooked, abandoned property receiving little mail where boxes won’t raise eyebrows. Provide false sender details to the shipper to remain anonymous even if authorities come searching later.
Overall by masking both your digital identity and physical location at every step of private online activity – access, browsing, communications, transactions and delivery – complete anonymity can be achieved. But expect this to require significant effort and many compromises in convenience approaching that needed by intelligence agencies and underground networks. For most mere mortals, asking if this level of intense anonymity is truly essential for their threat model is wise before sacrificing so much usability. But for those with legitimate reasons like political dissidents and journalists in oppressive regimes, these methods provide some hope of operating freely without being unmasked or silenced.

This essay explored a range of advanced techniques that can help protect privacy and provide anonymity during common online activities – private communications, web browsing, securing online accounts and masking identity trails surrounding financial transactions or commercial deliveries. Methods ranged from simple use of encryption apps, disposable online identities and prepaid cards for payments all the way up to establishing offshore shell entities and using abandoned properties as shipping drops to achieve true nameless, faceless and even locationless anonymity.

But for each tactic explored, notable downsides in terms of cost, complexity and crippled usability were also highlighted. Truly protecting anonymity online requires significant tradeoffs in effort, convenience and restrictions that make regular open digital life difficult. As such these techniques generally transition from security best practices into dark arts only practically achievable by the highly motivated. Regular citizens after “just privacy” in daily affairs are better served by much simpler measures even if not total anonymity. But where privacy risks are life-threatening, the steps laid out demonstrate that anonymous online existence is possible – just be prepared to pay a high cost compared to most for the privilege.