Online privacy is becoming a major threat by the day, and no one is going to offer the solution to you. You need to have some privacy tools in your arsenal to keep your data protected.
Below are the nine best tools to protect your online privacy and make sure that cybercriminals don’t get anywhere near you:
TOR Browser
The Onion Router (TOR) is a tremendous weapon in the fight against online anonymity. This browser allows you to use the internet without leaving your location and any other personal data to the sites you surf.
TOR Browser Bundle is among the most secured and easiest ways to get-go. You simply need to download it, and you can surf the internet with no privacy worries. TOR is available for Mac, Linux, and Windows.
Duck Duck Go
If you love privacy, avoid searching through Google.
Google saves all your searches to display personalized ads for you. However, what is even worse is they can hand over your bunch of search results to any regulatory agency. Many governmental agencies remain curious about what you are looking for, for the last two years.
A better Google alternative is Duck Duck Go. It is an entirely anonymous search engine, which does not store or save any information whatsoever about your searches. The search results you get from Duck Duck Go are almost identical to Google’s and you don’t need to worry about the loss of quality.
HTTPS Everywhere
HTTPS Everywhere is among the important plug-ins for Google Chrome and Firefox. It puts efforts to coerce a website for a secured mode connection, thus it can encrypt your traffic with the site you are visiting. This secures your browsing data massively because it can easily prevent state-mafia or eavesdropping thieves from stealing your unencrypted Internet data.
Cryptocat
Cryptocat covers all the encrypted chats that beat Skype and Facebook when you talk about privacy and security. If you need to chat privately then Cryptocat is an easy solution. It is also an open-source secure VPN to protect online privacy. It means you have access to the full code and all have the surety there are no built-in government “backdoors”.
Silent Circle
Silent Circle is relatively a new player in the privacy tool market. However, it is created by a few “old” players in combination with the encryption and security industry. One of the tool founders, Phil Zimmerman, is the creator of PGP also; one of the widely used privacy tools in the web world.
Silent Circle is a combination of digital products offering:
• Encrypted phone calls
• Encrypted video chat
• Encrypted text messaging
Silent Circle is the only privacy service on our list, which is paid. However, having the gold encryption standard might be worth it for your investment in privacy.
Preveil
Preveil enables you to exchange encrypted emails without switching to any new or special email account. You only keep using your existing email with Apple Mail, Gmail, Outlook, or the Mail apps built-in into iOS or Android. Using it with different email clients needs a little effort; however, it is possible. You don’t need to exchange or memorize passwords. The combination of your email account access and usage of a trusted device authenticates you.
ProtonMail
You can use ProtonMail in the same way as any web-based email service. The major difference you get is that conversations with other ProtonMail users are protected automatically using public-key encryption. The same applies to any other correspondent you have imported whose public key. You can send encrypted mail also to outsiders using a simple form of encryption.
TrackOff Basic
A nice personal profile is a golden commodity that they can sell. With the escalation of active ‘Do Not Track’ systems, a few trackers have switched to a method called browser fingerprinting. TrackOFF Basic stands square in its way and ensures that your browser continues its job without painting a target on your back.
TrackOFF remains away from suppression of the information coming from the browser, as that can cause problems with a few websites. It mixes things up and presents a bit different fingerprint to every website.
Virtu
Similar to Preveil, Virtru is a product that reaps the benefit of technology development for companies. Similar to Preveil, it is free and doesn’t force you to change your email address. However, it works with Gmail accounts only if you access them using Chrome.
Virtru provides unusual control over your encrypted emails. You can set the emails to expire after a certain time and change that time even after sending the message. You can control the ability of the recipient to forward secured messages.
Bottom Line
You can easily set up a majority of the tools we mentioned within 5 minutes. Each of the discussed tools will go a long way to secure your online privacy.
Do you have a recommended tool or service that should be on the list? If so, please leave a comment and share it below.