बड़े पैमाने पर निगरानी और आईएसपी निगरानी के इस युग में, एक अंतिम समाधान की आवश्यकता जो नेटिज़न्स को अपने ब्राउज़िंग इतिहास को छिपाने में मदद करेगी, एक उल्लेखनीय दर से बढ़ गई है।
कई नेटिज़न्स इन दिनों सुरक्षा और गोपनीयता संबंधी चिंताएँ रखते हैं; वे नहीं चाहते कि कोई अन्य व्यक्ति उनके ब्राउज़िंग इतिहास में अंतर्दृष्टि प्राप्त करके उनके व्यक्तिगत जीवन में हस्तक्षेप करे। कुछ अन्य कारण भी हो सकते हैं जैसे हस्तक्षेप करने वाले विज्ञापनों से छुटकारा और भी बहुत कुछ।
आईएसपी को न केवल हमारे ब्राउज़िंग इतिहास को ट्रैक करने बल्कि हमारी कीमती जानकारी को बेचने और इससे डॉलर बनाने का अधिकार दिया गया है। यही कारण है कि ब्राउज़िंग इतिहास को छिपाने के लिए अंतिम समाधान खोजने के लिए कई चिंताओं को उठाया गया है।
अपने ब्राउज़िंग इतिहास में घुसपैठ से बचने के लिए आप निम्नलिखित कुछ प्रभावी तरीके अपना सकते हैं।
गुप्त मोड का उपयोग करें
जब आप किसी सार्वजनिक कैफे में कंप्यूटर का उपयोग कर रहे होते हैं या यदि इसे दूसरों द्वारा साझा किया जाता है, तो आपका ब्राउज़र इतिहास स्वचालित रूप से संग्रहीत हो जाता है। इसलिए इससे बचने के लिए आपको इंटरनेट पर सर्फ करने से पहले ब्राउज़र के गुप्त मोड, जो कि ब्राउज़र का गोपनीयता मोड है, को सक्रिय करना होगा।
आपके द्वारा गुप्त मोड में स्विच करने के बाद आपकी ऑनलाइन गतिविधियों को ट्रैक करने वाली तृतीय पक्ष कुकीज़ अवरुद्ध हो जाती हैं। इसके साथ ही, उस विशिष्ट वेबसाइट की आपकी उपस्थिति का पता लगाने के लिए साइट जो प्रथम पक्ष कुकीज़ रखती है, साइट छोड़ने पर भी साफ हो जाती है। नतीजतन, आपका डिजिटल निशान मिटा दिया जाता है।
आपको बस ब्राउज़र के टूलबार से निजी या गुप्त मोड का चयन करना है।
कुकी हटाएं
सुपर कुकीज या फ्लैश कुकीज आपकी ऑनलाइन गोपनीयता और सुरक्षा के लिए एक और बड़ा खतरा हैं। इसलिए थर्ड पार्टी कुकीज को हटाना ही काफी नहीं है, क्योंकि आपको इन सुपर कुकीज को भी हटाना होगा, अन्यथा एक बड़ा खतरा बना रहता है कि डिलीट की गई थर्ड पार्टी कुकीज को फिर से बनाया जा सकता है।
फ्लैश प्लेयर चलाने वाली वेबसाइटें ज्यादातर ऐसी होती हैं जिन पर किसी प्रकार की वीडियो सामग्री चल रही होती है और वे ही फ्लैश कुकीज़ रखती हैं। इन कुकीज़ में बड़ी मात्रा में डेटा बनाए रखने की क्षमता होती है और इस प्रकार यह आपके ब्राउज़िंग इतिहास को अपने नियंत्रण में रख सकती है।
हालाँकि, इन सुपर कुकीज़ को हटाने का एक सरल तरीका मौजूद है, वह है CCleaner डाउनलोड करना। आपको अलर्ट पर भी रहना चाहिए क्योंकि साइटों के बीच टूर गतिविधि को ट्रैक करने के लिए तृतीय पक्ष कुकीज़ का उपयोग करके वेबसाइट द्वारा आपको कई बार साइन-इन किया जा सकता है।
ब्राउज़र को स्थान विवरण भेजने से रोकें
ब्राउज़र आपकी उपस्थिति का पता लगाने में सक्षम है कि आप कहीं भी हों और उस विशेष जानकारी को आपके द्वारा देखी गई साइट पर स्थानांतरित कर सकते हैं। हालाँकि यह डेटा ब्राउज़र द्वारा आपको बेहतर खोज परिणाम देने के लिए रखा जाता है ताकि आप इसका लाभ उठा सकें। इसके अलावा, एक बार विज्ञापनदाताओं और मार्केटिंग फर्मों को दिए गए इस डेटा का उपयोग उनकी सेवाओं की बेहतरी के लिए किया जा सकता है। But we cannot be 100% sure to whom our data is being transferred.
Therefore, to avoid such a situation you can make simply reject the location request asked by the browser when you are about to visit a site. In order to remove these requests permanently, you can follow these steps:
- Chrome – Go to Preferences -> Settings -> Advanced -> Content settings -> Select Disallow to permanently remove the location requests.
- Safari – Preferences -> Privacy -> Select Disable Location Services.
- Firefox – Type about:config in the URL bar and after that geo.enabled. To permanently avoid the repeated requests by Firewall for sending the location to the sites you visit, you may double click to disable location completely.
- Microsoft Edge – Go to main Computer Settings -> Privacy -> Location. Now turn off Microsoft Edge there.
Search with Anonymity
Many search engines like Google, is always burdened with a lot of traffic. The results projected by Google differentiate from person to person and this depends upon the user’s previous data. It might seem quite useful as you get your desired search results but on the other hand, it also keeps us away from other web pages that are liable to contain a great amount of useful information regarding that particular topic.
To restrict Google from doing so you can go to Access Search Tools -> Results -> Select Verbatim tool.
Another efficient way from preventing your online activity being disposed of is to switch to a private search engine such as DuckDuckGo. The ads also get blocked once you switch to a private browsing.
Avoid Google Tracking
Google offers you many one-click browsing folders like calendar, Gmail, Google browser, Google drive etc, which you can easily access to get the desired content at an ultra fast speed. But it is not quite beneficial for us, as Google can record your browsing history and monitor your online activities via your emails, browsing activities etc. which gives it creates favorable circumstances to project personalized results.
This way interrupting ads can be averted. However, if you wish to avoid this personalization of advertisement then you can get out of the “shared endorsement” in Ads simply by turning off Ad Personalization. This will not completely restrict you from getting ads but the personalized ones will, however, be blocked which you were receiving before because of your browsing history. Download Google Analytic Browser add-on in order to restrict Google keeping your browser history and monitoring your online activities and also stop Google from creating an Ad profile.
Prevent Yourself from Social Site Tracking
Our social identity can help others gain an insight into our daily lives as the social websites, these days, have more than enough of our sensitive information stored on them, Social websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many others follow our activities even if we have logged out. This is done by the Share and Like button, you hit during your online activities on the renowned Facebook and Twitter.
So even if you confine yourselves from sharing any content then still same ads might continue to pop up due to this background process having such like and share options. The social website might transfer this information to advertisers so that they can continue to project ads.
For mobile ads there exists a tracker alternative in Facebook, namely Conversion Pixel that is used by an advertiser to calculate the number of sales and visits that he receives on his advertisement websites. Facebook receive this information even if the advertisement site contains a Facebook button or not.
In order to avoid personalize ads on social networking sites, you can follow these steps:
- For Facebook – Go to Facebook Settings -> Ads -> Ads based on my use of websites and apps -> Edit -> Choose Settings -> Off.
- For Twitter – Access Settings -> Security and Privacy -> Uncheck the box for “Tailor Ads”.
- For LinkedIn – Go to Privacy and Settings -> Accounts -> Managing Advertising Preferences.
By opting for the above measures you can stop personalized ads from appearing but your online activity will still be tracked for security purposes.
Prevent Tracking
Almost all the websites on the Internet tracks you and keeps a record of your browsing history. They can do so by using ads, comments section, cookies and sponsored links etc. Many advertising companies which belong to an Ad network place cookies to get the online data when someone visits the site where that Ad network has access.
The advertisers draw out the Netizens preferences and interests from this browsing history and share it with the employees of that Ad network so as to amplify their services. In order to prevent such activities, you can change the browser Privacy Settings and turn on the Do Not Track feature.
Stop Tracking Activity by Ad Blocker Plug-ins
Once you have opted out, you are still not sure that your online activity is being monitored or not. This is the reason why many sites do not provide these requests. You can block the site tracking feature by downloading anti-tracking plug-ins like Privacy Badger and Ghostery which can prevent ads by blocking cookies which prevent advertisers from building your profile which would be based on your online activities.
Use VPN
A VPN – Virtual Private Network – provides you with ironclad security and military-grade encryption protocols. It also offers anonymity by masking your real IP address so that it becomes impossible for trackers and ISPs to track your original location.
This seems to be the ultimate solution to hide your browser history from ISPs and various third-parties. A VPN also unblocks geo-restriction and censorship and helps you stream swiftly.
Use a Private Browser
In order to gain an excellent anonymous browsing experience, you can use a private browser which offers plug-ins and plug-ins etc. It can also prevent mass surveillance and mandatory data retention. The proxy can be turned on from the toolbar in the browser.
The private browser you opt for can be Chrome-based but it would be packed with a bundle of features and certain specialized settings that could stop the trackers as well as the ISPs from tracking your online activities and from storing your cookies. However, you will still remain prone to ads but they will not be able to track your activities online.
Epic Privacy Browser is an example of a private browser which you can download to prevent yourself from tracking.
Use Tor
Tor is a browser client that is capable of keeping your browsing history safe from the prying eyes of ISPs and other third-parties. A Tor browser will protect your identity by anonymizing it. It can distribute your Internet traffic over several relay nodes run by Tor volunteers globally this is how it becomes a tough job to locate your actual destination.
A Tor browser encrypts all your browsing activities by the major drawback is that it does not encrypt any other thing than the online activity on the Tor browser, such as it is unable to block your information from being monitored if it is being relayed through any other Internet-connected app. It can also pose you problems with browsing speed as it has to bounce your traffic over several nodes so it takes time in browsing.
Conclusion
With the implementation of the anti-privacy bill, ISPs have gained strong footholds to monitor our online activities and to keep a record of our browsing history. The mass surveillance by the government is also a great threat to the Netizens. But being the victims we just cannot let these organizations play with our browsing history.
We need to hide our browsing history and take charge in order to boost our online security and privacy. Fortunately, the above-mentioned tools and settings can help us keep our browsing history secure and let us enjoy the freedom over Internet without any fear.