Are you certain your online activities are private? Think again.
Not only are your surfing sessions tracked by websites, search engines and social networks, but often your Internet provider, Web browser, government and potentially hundreds of online tracking companies.
Whether it's to collect valuable marketing data or prevent criminal activity, everything you think you're doing privately in the comfort of your home is anything but private.
That said, there are a few ways to spend time online anonymously. The following are a few suggestions.
SMART SOFTWARE
How does Facebook know to show you ads for your local gym or supermarket? In part it's because your computer's unique Internet Protocol (IP) address, assigned by your Internet provider, reveals your geographical whereabouts. Even if your computer generates a different IP address every time you boot up or log online, this number (e.g. 220.165.119.12) can still tell your general location.
There are a variety of solutions that can hide your Internet connection, allowing you to remain anonymous while online.
Some are websites, such as free "online proxy servers" that conceal your identity. Simply point the Web address (URL) to the proxy server and surf right from its website (check out proxy.org for a list of great options).
Others prefer to download Virtual Private Network (VPN) software that encrypts your online sessions.
The browser-independent Hotspot Shield from AnchorFree (anchorfree.com), for example — available for Windows, Macs, iPhone and Android — channels all Web activities through a personal VPN and secures Internet communications by turning all HTTP traffic into the safer HTTPS (which is what your bank uses for a safe connection). There's an ad-supported free version and a beefier "elite" option ($29.95/year) with more bells and whistles.
Similarly, Tor is free software that defends you against Internet surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy. Short for "The Onion Router" — which gets its name for its "layered" approach to the encryption process — Tor (torproject.org) provides online anonymity as the software routes Internet traffic through a worldwide volunteer network of servers to conceal your location or online usage patterns.
USB STICKS
In some cases, software to encrypt your connection is kept on a USB drive — so you can remain safe and secure even when using a public PC.
SurfEasy Private Browser ($69.99 one-time fee; surfeasy.com) is a tiny USB key that fits into a credit card-shaped case to be kept in your wallet. When you plug it into a PC or Mac — be it your own computer or a public one — it instantly launches its own password-protected browser and you're good to go (no proxy or network settings to configure).
Your browsing session is handled through SurfEasy's fast and secure private proxy network. Your IP address will be masked throughout the session.
The company also has a new downloadable product called SurfEasy VPN that can protect computers, smartphones and tablets.
Also consider Tails (tails.boum.org), which can be downloaded and installed onto a USB stick to run independently of the computer's original operating system. Like SurfEasy, it lets you browse the Web anonymously — on virtually any computer — as all connections are channeled through the aforementioned Tor network.
BROWSER TWEAKS
Anonymous proxy software is a great way to mask your IP address online, but there is still plenty of information about your Web-surfing habits stored on your computer — which could also be viewed over a network, say, at the office, by your IT department.
At least it's somewhat easy to control your privacy settings directly in your Web browser, unless your company forbids non-administrators from making changes to your browser settings.
You can disable cookies — tiny text files stored on your computer with information about where you've been online, passwords and other info — and you should also delete your browser history to cover your tracks. All major Web browsers — such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome or Safari — allow you to delete your surfing history: Simply go to the Options or Settings in your favorite browser and you'll see how to do this.
You might want to turn off auto-complete or someone on your computer could type in a few letters in a search engine or Web address (URL) bar and any recent places you visited could fill in automatically. And don't click to allow sites to "remember my password" or someone could gain access to your private or financial information.
The easiest thing to do, however, is to see if your Web browser has settings for surfing incognito — most of the major browsers do today. By enabling these privacy settings, your browser won't save any history (and download history), search queries, cookies or passwords.
When it comes to your search engine, you could choose not to save your history. Google, for example, was recently ordered to make this easier for users, to avoid European privacy rules. You could also choose not to log into your Google account when using these services (or not use them at all) or you might want to install one of the free browser plug-ins that tell Google and other advertisers to back off.
Finally, you might have heard Facebook is going to start sharing Web-browsing history it collects with advertisers to display more targeted ads — yes, even on non-Facebook sites you visit. But you can opt out of this within Facebook's Privacy settings.
你確定你的上網活動是隱私嗎?再想一想。
據《今日美國報》網站報道，不僅是你的瀏覽過程被網站、搜索引擎和社交網絡跟蹤，還會被你的網絡服務提供者，網頁瀏覽器，政府以及上百家網絡追蹤公司所追蹤。
不論是收集可貴的市場營銷數據，或者是防范犯罪活動，所有你認為你在家里私下做的事情絕不是保密的。
即便如此，我們仍有一些方法匿名地暢游網絡。以下便是一些建議。
智能軟件
臉書是如何向你呈現你當地的健身房或者超市的廣告的?一部分是由于你電腦唯一的IP地址。這個地址注冊在你的網絡服務提供商之下，揭示了你的地理位置。即使你的電腦每次連接登陸網絡時，都產生一個不同的IP地址，這個數字(例如：220.165.119.12)仍然會暴露你的大體位置。
你有許多的方法可以隱藏你的網絡連接，使得你上網時保持匿名。
一些是網站，例如免費的“網絡代理服務器”——可以隱藏你的身份。簡單地將網絡地址(URL)改成代理服務器，并直接從網頁瀏覽網站(請查看proxy.com的一張列出許多選項的清單)。
其他的就傾向于下載虛擬專用網(VPN)軟件——可以將你的網絡部分加密。
來自于AnchorFree(anchorfree.com)的獨立瀏覽器熱點屏蔽軟件，舉個例子——對于Windows，Mac，Iphone和Android操作系統均有效。它通過一個個人的VPN疏導所的網頁活動，并轉變所有HTTP通訊成為一個更安全的HTTPS來使網絡交流更為安全(這就是你的銀行運用的更為安全的連接)。一個無廣告支持的免費版本和一個更結實擁有更多修飾的“精銳”可供選擇($29.95/年)。
相同地，Tor是一個免費的軟件——保護你不被威脅個人自由和隱私，免于網絡監視。Tor是“The Onion Router" (洋蔥路由器)的縮寫。這名字的由來是由于它保密途徑的”分層的”方式。該軟件通過一個世界范圍的志愿服務器網絡——可以藏匿你的位置或者上網習慣，將網絡交流分路，Tor(torproject.org)提供網絡的匿名性。
U盤
在一些情況下，軟件對于你的連接保密是存儲于一個USB儲存盤上的——因而當你用一個公共的電腦時，你可確保安全和保密。
SurfEasy Private Browser (方便瀏覽的保密瀏覽器，$69.99 一次性繳費;surfeasy.com)是一個小小的USB鑰匙——可以放入一個信用卡形狀的盒子，并且放進你的錢包。當你將它插入一個電腦或者蘋果電腦——隨便是你自己的電腦或者一個公共電腦——這鑰匙會立刻安裝它自己的有密碼保護的瀏覽器，如此一勞永逸(無需設定代理或者網絡設置)。
你的瀏覽部分通過SurfEasy快速和安全的隱私代理網絡處理。你的IP地址在整個過程中都會被掩藏。
這家公司同時也有個新的可供下載的產品叫做SurfEasy VPN (輕松瀏覽虛擬專用網)——可以保護電腦，智能手機以及平板電腦。
另外，考慮一下Tails (tails.boum.org)——可以單獨下載并且安裝于U盤上，并且可獨立于電腦原本的操作系統單獨運行。例如 SurfEasy，讓你匿名地瀏覽網頁——實際上在任何電腦上——因為所有的連接都由上述提及的Tor網絡引導。
特殊瀏覽器
匿名代理軟件是一個隱藏你IP地址的絕妙方法，但是卻仍有許多關于你的網頁瀏覽習慣的信息存儲于你的電腦，這些也可以被網絡查看，比如說，在辦公室，被你的IT部門(網路技術部門)。
至少這樣直接在你的網絡瀏覽器里，控制你的隱私設置比較容易，除非你的電腦禁止非管理員對你的瀏覽設置做出改變。
你可以使得信息記錄程序(cookies)——儲存于你的電腦的一點點的關于你上網瀏覽過什么，密碼以及其他信息的文字文檔，不工作。你也應當刪除你的瀏覽記錄來掩藏你的軌跡。所有主要的網絡瀏覽器——例如Internet Explorer(網絡探索者)，Firefox(火狐)，Chrome(谷歌瀏覽器)或者Safari(蘋果瀏覽器)——都允許你刪除你的瀏覽歷史：簡單地找到選項或者設置菜單，你會明白如何刪除瀏覽歷史。
你或許想要關閉自動完成功能，否則某人在你的電腦上僅僅在搜索引擎或者地址欄中輸入一些字母，任何你的近期瀏覽過的地址會自動地填寫。還有，不要選擇允許網站“記住我的密碼”否則某人可以獲得你的隱私或者賬戶的信息。
不過最簡單的方法是，看你的網絡瀏覽器時候有無痕瀏覽的選項——大多數主要的瀏覽器確有此項功能。通過啟動這些隱私設置，你的瀏覽器不會保存任何歷史(以及下載歷史)，搜索詞條，信息記錄(cookies)或者密碼。
說到你的搜索引擎，你可以選擇不保存你的歷史，舉個例子，比如谷歌，最近接到命令為客戶把此項功能簡易化，來防止歐洲的隱私條例。當你運用這些服務的時候(或者根本不用)，你也可以選擇不登陸你的谷歌賬戶，否則你或許會想要安裝某個免費的瀏覽器插件，讓谷歌以及其他的廣告商遠離你。
最后，你或許已經聽說過臉書將會和廣告商分享它收集的網頁瀏覽歷史，來呈現更有針對性的廣告——是的，甚至你瀏覽的非臉書的網站上。但你可以在臉書的隱私設置中選擇逃離這些。
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