The use of the Internet is so widespread that it has become rather uncommon to hear that someone doesn’t have their own Wi-Fi at home, or that they don’t browse the World Wide Web in any other way.
Some of you might even be experts on certain digital issues, or you might know all about how to browse the Internet for the most useful and trustworthy information. Or, you might just be using it to play video games and watch movies.
Whatever your case might be, here’s a harsh truth for you. If you thought that you were protected from prying eyes, you were definitely wrong. Your browsing history is definitely visible to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the truth is that they can use your data and sell it to third parties which will then use the data for better ad targeting.
For this, and numerous other reasons, a lot of people are interested in hiding their browsing history from their ISP, which is certainly a smart move. It feels great to know that what you do online is completely private and that you are protected from third parties and their prying eyes. In addition to this being nice to know, it is also rather necessary for certain people.
If you are one of those people who believe that they could benefit from hiding their browsing history from ISP, then you will certainly want to know how to do it. There are quite a few different methods that could come in handy, so when you decide to use an ISP blocker, you should make sure to do your research on the different types, so that you can decide which one is best for you. Like I said, you’ll have a lot of choices ahead of you.
In case this is your first time doing something like this, you might be a bit confused about how you can actually hide your browsing history from your ISP. Don’t worry, though. Just because you are confused right now, it doesn’t mean that you will never get to understand how this works. All you need are a few useful tips that can teach you how to do this and I’ll share some of those tips with you below.
- Change DNS Settings
You might already know that the Domain Name Systems are kind of like the Internet’s very own address book. These systems match the site names to IP addresses, allowing your browser to find the exact link that you wanted to open. It might sound complicated, but it is actually rather simple. The bottom line is that your DNS helps your computer navigate you to where you want to go when you type a certain link in your browser.
This is all nice and useful, but the thing is that DNS isn’t really great for your privacy. This particular system is triggered every single time you do something on the Internet. I’m talking browsing, typing something in the search engines, clicking certain links, and even sending e-mails. All of the data collected this way can serve to build your profile.
When you want to stay private and protected, you should think about changing your DNS settings. Make sure to do your research on how to properly do this. There are a lot of tools out there that you can use in order to make it happen and you should check some of those out in order to ensure that you are doing everything the right way.
- Use A Virtual Private Network (VPN)
If there is one service that can hide your activity from all the prying eyes, including your ISP, then it’s the virtual private network (VPN). In case you are interested in getting more info about what a VPN can hide, I suggest you do some more extensive research about it.
For now, though, we will stick to the ISP issue that we are dealing with. Basically, by connecting to a VPN, you are using VPN to block your IP address from any prying eyes and redirect your traffic through an encrypted tunnel. This will also automatically change your DNS settings, which is a huge plus.
When browsing through a VPN, you won’t have to worry about your ISP collecting any of your data. You will be perfectly private and protected. The only thing that you need to worry about here is finding the perfect VPN provider for you. When you start searching, you will quickly see that there really are a lot of providers to choose from, but the truth is that not all of those will provide you with the perfect service that you deserve.
How can you, then, make sure that you are getting the service you deserve? Here’s what you should do. Find a few review websites that offer you all the information you need about specific providers.
Those websites will help you understand which VPN providers can give you the best services, as well as which ones you should avoid at all costs. So, make sure to get all the info you need before you decide which VPN to use because that’s the only way to be sure that you are safe and private while browsing.
- Use A Proxy
Proxy is another popular method of hiding your browsing history from your Internet Service Provider. It is slightly less common than VPNs, but there are definitely people who rely on it for protection and privacy. Just like VPNs, a proxy will redirect your internet traffic to a server and thus prevent your ISP from finding out which online resource you are using at a certain point in time.
Even though these two are pretty similar in the way they work, a proxy differs from a VPN in at least one important aspect. Namely, these don’t use encryption, meaning that your ISP can still analyze your data, especially if you are downloading something. This lack of encryption is why some people opt against proxies and go for VPNs instead, but it’s worth knowing that using a proxy can also protect you to some extent.
- Rethink the Search Engine
We all use Google, don’t we? It’s the most popular search engine out there and it is also pretty open about its data collecting practice. In other words, Google isn’t trying to hide that they are collecting our data in order to, for example, target the right ads towards us. Most people are okay with this, but there are those who really don’t like the idea of having all their browsing data collected and stored by this company.
The people who aren’t okay with it tend to turn to certain other, more privacy-conscious search engines. Most of those aren’t that well known or popular at all, but there are people who have found out about them and are now replacing Google for those search engines, especially when their searches are sensitive.
If you believe that you could benefit from doing this, I suggest you do your research on the different types of search engines out there and check out their privacy policies so that you know which ones won’t bother collecting your browsing data.
very nice post i like it very much.
Thanks for writing such a good article