Freedom of speech is not just a buzz phrase – it’s a way of life that we should all aspire to. Whether we live in a country that imposes restrictions on what we can say or do or not, the internet is still a place where your personal freedom can be at risk. Anyone monitoring the internet is able to tell where and who you are and what you are doing while you’re logged on and, even if you’re simply using Wikipedia to find out more about cats and you have absolutely no intention of doing anything that could be considered illegal, you don’t necessarily want them to know.
Why Do I Need To Be Anonymous On The Internet?
Search engines and websites are becoming increasingly sophisticated and, even if it’s just to tailor the advertisements that are directed your way, gather data about you every time you type in a new url or search term. They can tell everything from your shopping habits and hobbies to your political affiliations and opinions and you’ll seldom even be aware that you’re giving them that information. This is not something that many of us are comfortable with a search engine having access to, let alone a government agency – and certainly not a government agency that’s not even from our own country. After all, what exactly are they planning to do with it?
How Do I Become Anonymous On The Internet?
The culprit is your IP address. Every time you browse the internet, you’re doing so using a string of numbers and letters that identifies your computer and sets it apart from everyone else’s – it’s like a virtual I.D. card. The first and biggest step to becoming anonymous on the internet is to make sure nobody has access to that IP address and the best and most secure way to do that is through a VPN provider, which routes your internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel to a server, where it assigns you a new IP address to mask your own.
There are other steps you can take, such as to disable cookies on your computer and to use a proxy, but your VPN is absolutely essential to keep you anonymous on the internet. Once you have it in place, be sure not to disclose your personal information when it’s not necessary and make sure you have decent spyware installed on your computer. Ready to get started? Our experts have compiled a comparison table of VPN providers below, bearing your anonymity strongly in mind:
| Rank | Provider |
Starting Price | MoneyBack |
Visit Website |
 |
ExpressVPN | $6.67/month | 30 Days |  |
| 2 | VyprVPN | $14.95/month | 7 Days | |
| 3 | IPVanish | $10.00/month | 7 Days | |
| 4 | Hidemyass | $6.55/month | 30 Days | |
| 5 | StrongVPN | $21/ 3 Months | 7 Days | |