How to avoid Internet stalking

They may want to watch us, but that doesn't mean they can.

In a previous our article we mentioned the new policy recently announced by Facebook regarding the monitoring not only of those who have an account on Facebook, but also of those who do not. The reason, as we explained, has to do with the better targeting of the ads that will be shown to us, following an analysis of our movements on the Web, such as pages we visit, searches we make, conversations we participate in, etc.

In this way, our preferences and tastes will be analysed and advertising companies will be able to serve us ads to which we are more likely to respond by clicking and being driven to the pages of the advertised products and perhaps even buying them.

As nightmarishly Orwellian as this sounds, it's not as creepy as it seems, given that the free services we enjoy from so many different companies (Google, Facebook Twitter etc) have to be paid for somehow. And so, it makes sense that this way we get a "fair" exchange. Free services for our personal data.

On the other hand, if someone doesn't want to be followed, it's not enough just to not be on Facebook, but rather they should have no Internet, no mobile TV (digital) and eventually go live in a cave in a mountain. The truth is that we have been tracked for years by far more services than we would like to admit.

Anyway, this still does not mean that we should fatalistically accept this fact and do nothing. And what is certain is that we can and we can and it is not difficult and this same technology that gives others the ability to watch us also gives us the ability to cover ourselves from prying eyes.

We will show you here at least three different ways to do it.

See also: How to build a VPN network 

Way 1: Tor bowser

The Tor browser has long been the solution for everyone who wanted to surf the Web anonymously and have no one (really no one) be able to watch them. It uses a network of nodes that are anonymous and routes our signal through them, masking and encrypting it at the same time, so that it's impossible for anyone to see our physical address, the pages we've visited, and generally our overall Internet traffic. It also enables us to visit pages that, under normal circumstances, we are not allowed to visit, such as when, for example, they are not available in our country. In essence, Tor provides us with a complete VPN (Virtual Private Network).

It is of course available for Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and can even run from a USB drive if you don't want to run it from your machine, but from another one for even more security.

You can download Tor from its website 

Way 2: Opera browser

Opera is a very good, fast and powerful browser and I assume that - most likely - you have heard of it. What you may not have heard, unless you're in the industry, is the big announcement Opera made a while back where they said that, in their latest release, they would be integrating a full VPN service into the browser itself.

As you can see, Opera would become identical to Tor in terms of functionality and in terms of anonymous Internet browsing for its users. So no more monitoring for those who already use Opera (and there are quite a few of them) and good riddance to those who use it. Those who are faithful, come on in.

Opera is also compatible with Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and can be downloaded from official website 

Way 3: Google Chrome browser

When you know that Google is one of the main companies tracking us, and the first to use the free services for ads system, and it discovers that its own browser, Chrome, has VPN and therefore non-tracking capabilities for its users, you are stunned, to say the least. Irony in all its glory.

The truth is that the features are not built directly into Chrome, but are added through a third-party plug-in. But the funny thing is you don't have to search some sneaky and infamous "neighborhood" of the Internet to download it, nor do you have to be a hacker to install it. The plug-in is found in the Chrome Web Store itself and is automatically installed once you select it. Abyss the soul of Google.

Once installed, you automatically get full VPN services on Chrome and unattended surfing. So those who use Chrome - probably most people - don't even need to switch browsers for more privacy security.

Download the plug-in by visiting this address inside Chrome. Needless to say, it is compatible with all versions of Chrome regardless of the operating system.

So much for our unattended Internet browsing and good surfing. 

See also: The 5 best VPN apps for iOS 

from Elichord