.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
Social media platforms are ubiquitous, and almost everybody on the planet has at least one account. Sure, there are benefits to social media. They offer a new way to keep in touch with loved ones, a new way to connect with people all across the globe, and an enticing freedom of expression. These benefits make it easy to forget about online safety.
Sharing personal information online can leave you vulnerable to hackers, identity theft, and embarrassment. We’re looking at you, generation who’s been online since you were an incredibly cringey tween. But in our increasingly digital age, is it even possible to be truly anonymous?
The answer is complicated, so let’s get started.
Why Would You Want To Be Anonymous?
Up to 86% of internet users have tried to minimize digital footprints, so wanting to keep your online identity separate from your real life is a common concern, even as our lives in cyberspace take up more and more of our time. There are many good reasons why you’d look to be more anonymous online — the most common is simply for personal protection.
Sharing any personally identifiable information makes you more accessible to fraudsters, scammers, and trolls. The more information they have access to, the more convincing any attempts to scam you may be.
You might think nothing of posting a selfie while running errands on one of your favorite forums, but now some scammer knows which bank you go to because they spotted it in the background. It’s all too easy to share key information without realizing it.
Then, there’s the fact that nearly every website in existence keeps track of what you do. Like the selfie, knowing that Target knows all of your purchasing and browsing habits may not seem alarming.
But this kind of data collection can start to influence your experience online. It can determine what kind of ads you see, what’s on your social media feed, and what kind of news shows up on your home page, and it can even start affecting the prices you’re shown in some cases. These small shifts can stack up over time and really start to impact your habits and perceptions.
Being anonymous online can also be freeing for some people. If there’s an online community you want to be a part of, but you want to keep it separate from your real life, anonymity can be appealing. It also encourages free speech by
For some, anonymous communication can also be a necessity for free speech. Maybe you’re participating in or organizing some kind of protest. It can be essential for activists to keep messages exchanged in planning or executing collective action private in the event that law enforcement gets involved for their own protection.
Maybe you’re trying to start a union in your workplace. Making sure any digital communication between your colleagues remains anonymous can be the difference between success and failure. In more extreme cases, for people who may be acting as whistleblowers, being totally anonymous can be a safety matter.
There are many reasons to look for anonymity online, but unfortunately, it’s not that easy.
Is It Possible To Be Totally Anonymous Online?
The reality is, in the modern age, it’s almost impossible to be totally anonymous online. Long gone are the days of secret agent movies where it’s enough to pick up a plastic Burner phone from a corner shop and cut up your credit cards.
Almost everything we do has a digital footprint. Just about every part of our daily life has some digital footprint. Practically, it’s nearly impossible for even the most diligent anonymous users to stay truly anonymous all of the time.
Even if you’re careful about using pseudonyms and you trade your credit card for cryptocurrency, you’d be hard-pressed to completely erase your digital footprint without professional help and an interest in homesteading.
And even then, you’ll probably have to send a few emails to get your chickens from some tradwife on Craigslist.
The Difference Between Anonyminity and Privacy
While online anonymity may not be possible, protecting your online privacy is. Many of the apps and tricks people use to stay “anonymous” online are actually more about privacy, and frankly, this is all the average person really needs.
You can encrypt almost everything — from emails to texts to phone calls to image transfers. That means that only your recipient will be able to see or read what you’re sending.
But encryption doesn’t necessarily protect the actions you’re taking. Someone may not be able to know what you sent to someone, but there’ll surely be metadata that tells someone the basic facts. Things like that you sent something at all, where you sent it, what kind of communication was sent, and even where you sent it from.
For instance, if you’re invested in internet privacy, you’ve probably heard of a VPN. It literally stands for Virtual Private Network. When you connect to a website from your home WiFi, your traffic is, let’s say, logged by that website as coming from your home internet service provider (ISP).
If you connect from your home WiFi to the same website using a VPN provider, your ISP is simply rerouted to the VPN’s server. So, as far as that website is concerned, you’re connecting from an internet service provider wherever that VPN’s server is located.
When it comes to watching a movie on Netflix that isn’t available in your region, VPNs are super useful. But when it comes to protecting your IP address, personal data, or online activities, they don’t really do anything.
The VPN provider still has access to your actual ISP, so that information is still accessible and connected to your identity. That’s the distinction between online privacy and anonymity.
So, while things like encryption don’t exactly make you anonymous, they do protect your privacy. For most people, someone getting access to those basic details makes no difference whatsoever. If you’re concerned about your online presence for any reason, it’s more practical and probable to focus on privacy over true anonymity.
What Are the Best Ways To Protect Yourself?
Most people would say that they value privacy, especially online. In fact, it’s hard to imagine anyone saying that they don’t value their privacy. Despite this, research shows that very few people actually take steps to protect their privacy. So, the reality is that the biggest threat to your online privacy is, well … you.
Luckily, there are some holistic steps you can take to protect your online privacy. From standard online safety tips to making more intentional software choices, protecting yourself online doesn’t have to be hard.
1. Think Before You Post
Protecting your online privacy doesn’t necessarily mean you have to completely erase yourself from the internet. You can be more private online without deleting all of your social media and missing out on the benefits it provides, for instance.
It’s just about being more mindful when you’re posting. Take a second to think before you share, both about any potential safety implications and about any future repercussions. It can also help to make your social media accounts private so you can control exactly who sees what you’re sharing, giving you peace of mind.
2. Read the Fine Print
If you’re really concerned about privacy, be sure to check out the fine print for any app or messaging service you use or download. Google, for instance, allows approved third-party developers to access your Gmail messages if you’ve granted them permission.
Think about all the times you’ve clicked through terms and conditions without reading when downloading an app. Then, think about how many developers may now have access to your emails. Ultimately, we’re (mostly) not living in a sci-fi dystopia, and any access to your messages by developers is likely incidental.
Still, it’s worth checking the specifics of the security settings on any messaging service you use — and especially worth checking what the automatic privacy settings of any app or software happen to be. Sometimes protecting your privacy is as simple as reading and opting out.
3. Use an Encrypted Messaging App
Using an encrypted messaging app to send texts, memos, and voicemails can protect your privacy better than standard SMS messages.
We mentioned above that encryption protects your privacy, not your anonymity, and this is still true with apps such as Signal. But since privacy is our goal here, encrypted messaging apps are perfectly appropriate. Encrypted apps are as user-friendly as any other. The main challenge is ensuring whomever you’re communicating with is also using the app.
4. Get a Good Ad Blocker
It’s easy to conjure up images of super genius hackers using your data to take over the world, but in reality, most data collection is about one thing: advertising. If you value your online privacy, it’s worth investing in a quality ad blocker.
Not only will this make your browsing experience more enjoyable, but it can help prevent companies and websites from tracking your online actions and using those to affect your online experience. The less information you allow even harmless websites to gather, the more private your online experience will be.
5. Limit Devices With Access to Your Data
Online privacy isn’t just about not sharing your A/S/L with some rando in an AIM chatroom like it was in the early 2000s. Many of us have smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, smart TVs, smartwatches, and home assistants. The more devices you’re connected to, and the more devices you have connected to one another, the harder it is to preserve your privacy.
Limit the number of devices with access to personal data. Rather than saving all of your passwords and credit card information on all of your devices, store sensitive data in a single place — or even on a physical, hard copy. Enable two-factor authentication so you can be sure your accounts are as safe as possible, even if you’re accessing them across multiple devices.
Small security steps such as these can make a huge difference to your online privacy.
6. Protect Your Phone Number
Your phone number doesn’t feel like personal information unless some weirdo with bad breath is asking you for it in a dark bar while standing way too close to you. But it’s actually key to protecting your privacy, both online and offline.
There are so many ways to look up personal data — like real names, employment history, and even address — when you have someone’s phone number because any phone plan will be connected to this data.
When you think about all of the times you type in your phone number on everything from random purchases to restaurant reservations to social media accounts, it gets easier to see how sharing your number makes complete anonymity impossible.
Instead of sharing a number that’s so tied to your real-world identity, get a custom phone number with our app. You can use this number for anything you need and receive calls and texts without an issue. If you ever feel that your number has been compromised or too tied to your real identity, you can simply delete it and start over.
It’s a single change that can protect a wealth of private information.
The Next Best Thing to Anonymity
It may not be possible to become totally anonymous online. But for the vast majority of people, anonymity isn’t nearly as important as protecting your privacy online. There are many ways that the things you share and interact with online can impact your life both negatively and positively — offline and online.
The best thing you can do is to be aware of it and control what you can. Staying on top of who and what has access to your phone number can make protecting your online privacy all the easier. For a custom phone number, try Burner today.
Sources:
Anonymity, Privacy, and Security Online | Pew Research Center
Online Privacy Concerns and Privacy Management: A Meta-Analytical Review | Wiley Online Library
