Privacy is such an important aspect of our online lives that it’s often exploited to promote software that’s far from private. “Keep your privacy under control”, says the download page for Chrome, despite Google being court-ordered to destroy user data it collected through the browser’s Incognito mode (www.snipca.com/50181). “Maintain your online privacy” promises CCleaner, whose privacy policy states that it “collects personal data in order to personalise ads for you” (www.snipca.com/50182).
Popular though these programs are, they undermine your privacy rather than boost it, whereas some lesser-known tools are more trustworthy. Rather than collect and share information about your web activities, they protect you from companies who engage in intrusive practices by blocking trackers, disguising your identity and letting you easily delete your private data.
In this feature, we reveal the best secret software for staying anonymous online, as well as highlighting new features and hidden privacy settings in programs you may already use.
Unlike Chrome’s Incognito mode, which doesn’t stop sites collecting your data – as Google now admits (see Issue 677, page 21) – these tools work exactly as promised, allowing you to browse the web discreetly without being spied on.
We’ve chosen a mix of free Windows software, browser extensions and mobile apps to keep you 100-per-cent private on every device.
BLOCK ALL TOOLS THAT TRACK YOU
Block more trackers in web pages
All the main web browsers now include tracking protection, though some (Brave and Firefox) do a much better job than others (Chrome and Edge) through their ‘strict’ or ‘aggressive’ settings. However, to stay completely private online by blocking every hidden tracker on every website, you need uBlock Origin (www.snipca.com/50113).
This brilliant extension now has around 55 million users worldwide, but it’s still not as well known as inferior rivals such as AdBlock and Adblock Plus. Even if you already use uBlock Origin to block ads, trackers and annoyances, you may not realise it has additional options for blocking further privacy risks.
Right-click the add-on’s toolbar button, choose Options and click the ‘Filter lists’ tab. Click the arrow next to Privacy and tick the boxes AdGuard Tracking Protection and AdGuard URL Tracking Protection – as well as Easy Privacy if it isn’t enabled (1 in our screenshot below). These augment uBlock Origin’s own filters with rules from freemium service AdGuard to provide comprehensive, constantly updated protection against the latest trackers – including those hidden in web addresses. Click ‘Apply changes’ then ‘Update now’ 2.
Annoyingly, Google’s new Manifest V3 system, which it’s introducing this year, will limit content blockers to using 30,000 filtering rules – uBlock Origin currently uses around 300,000 – which will make them less effective at blocking ads and trackers. To beat this restriction, uBlock Origin has created a Lite version for Manifest V3 (www.snipca.com/50116) that lets you configure its filters on a site-by-site basis, by choosing from Basic, Optimal or Complete filtering modes.
