Hiding our IP addresses no longer signifies looking to partake in something deep, dark and mysterious anymore. When confronted with the idea of shrouding anything from prying eyes, especially on the internet. Most people immediately think of illegal activity. Downloading copious amounts of illegal material from the internet without being tracked, sounds brilliant right? However, […]
Hiding our IP addresses no longer signifies looking to partake in something deep, dark and mysterious anymore. When confronted with the idea of shrouding anything from prying eyes, especially on the internet. Most people immediately think of illegal activity. Downloading copious amounts of illegal material from the internet without being tracked, sounds brilliant right? However, that is not the only reason someone might seek privacy on the internet.
The IP stands for "Internet Protocol". It can be best explained as our personal address on the Internet. A location where we receive all our private data such as emails, images and web pages. The IP address can identify the network we are predominantly using along with the device you use to access it.
Unbeknownst to many of us, most of our activities online are tracked. This is how social media algorithms function. These Shrewd detectives watch and monitor every move the user makes. Based on these observations, the algorithm chooses the ads it thinks might particularly enamour the user. Additionally, websites can restrict user activity based on geographical mapping by determining our location using our IP address.
IP addresses are not allocated randomly. These numbers are mathematically produced by Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), a division of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Social Media platforms and companies like Google, Instagram and Facebook store long records of their users' search histories. They do this by using algorithms to monitor their interactions with content on the web. They connect those searches to our IP addresses; thus, successfully identifying where the traffic originates.
Examining the various surveillance disclosures over the past few years (NSA, Facebook, Yahoo and Google), one can fathom how individuals are ready to adopt drastic measures to make way for technological innovation. While these same individuals campaign against similar changes based on political grounds. Having an unfiltered view of technology surrounding us has become crucial to our survival.
Why people want to protect their privacy online? One of the primary reasons is that people want to stop ad networks from tracking them. For instance, when we sign up for Facebook or Google, we let them access our browsing history to bombard us. And the tech companies launch advertisements that they deem relevant. This target marketing strategy might be convenient. However, some individuals value privacy and might find this method intrusive. Fortunately, there are tools that we can use to conceal our IP addresses.
Furthermore, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can track our activity online. It's similar to how social media algorithms do. There are currently zero restrictions within the United States protecting users from their ISPs. This puts people in a precarious position as it is far riskier not to have any control over where our data might end up. ISPs could potentially sell our data without our explicit consent. They can do this by sourcing our browsing history to marketing analysts and advertisers. Concealing our IP address could help protect our data from prying eyes.
Furthermore, researchers and creators alike would want to protect their sensitive data from potential misusers. Having an extra layer of protection is always a wise choice. Lastly, masking our IP addresses can help us navigate geographical barriers and unlock restrictions. This provides users with access to otherwise unavailable content in that geographical region.
That is, IP addresses help us surf around the internet and act as our digital fingerprints. Webpages store this information to learn more about us as consumers. They analyze our interactions and provide us with tailored content in the future. While that may sound enticing and convenient, the reality is not as such. The right to privacy is fundamental, and we fully support that! So here are six ways we can adopt to protect ourselves and our loved ones from breaches of privacy.
Virtual Private Networks or VPNs, more commonly known, are tools that consumers use to conceal their IP addresses. This software helps us connect to another secure server via the internet. More importantly, its brilliance lies in its ability to make our data appear as originating from the server it is connected to. Thus, successfully keeping our identity safe.
For example, a person residing in London connects to a server in Newyork. Hidingtheir actual location since the traffic appears to come from a server in Newyork. VPN works great when we use public Wi-Fi or need access to geo-blocked websites.
This extra layer of security makes the Turbo VPN an excellent choice for consumers. Over 300,000,000 people trust it! It works splendidly for unlocking websites, enhancing data security and online security. We can safely surf websites, watch videos, and access our favorite content anonymously with this VPN. That is, our browsing history remains concealed, and there is no fear of our data ending up where it was not intended.
Tor is another way to browse the internet anonymously. While it is considered one of the easiest ways to conceal our identity, it comes with many caveats. Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that helps consumers increase their privacy and security on the internet. Also, it sends the traffic we are generating to three random servers in its network. These random servers are known as relays.
The last relay server sends our traffic out into the public internet. The operators or anyone monitoring the websites we are visiting will not see our actual IP address. Instead, it will see a connection coming from the Tor network.
Tor is easy to access and use. However, antivirus and malware protection block users from accessing the Tor browser.
A proxy acts as an intermediary server through which our traffic is routed. The internet websites and servers we visit only see the IP address of that proxy server and not our original IP address. Any information sent to us by the servers is immediately sent to the proxy server, which then routes it back to us. That is, proxy could protect all your digital information.
Despite being relatively easy to use, the problem with proxy servers is there are not many good quality services available. Majority of them automatically install malware, spying and inserting ads into our browsers.
It might feel as if nobody is watching us when we use the internet on our mobile phones, but we are not too far away from prying eyes. When we access a website on our smartphones using our mobile network. The cellular carrier, the government and the network operator are immediately notified that a specific website has been accessed.
While there are specific ways we can adopt, such as browsing incognito, and tweaking browser settings. Our activities will still be visible to our Internet Service Providers. Hence, our mobile networks cannot provide us with the same level of privacy and security that a VPN or Tor does.
Additionally, by changing our location by going to a bookstore or a coffee shop that offers Wi-Fi, our IP address will change. That is one way to lessen security threats.
What better way to conceal our identity and our privacy than to get a new IP address every time we browse? Releasing and renewing our IP address might seem like a good option and will resolve connectivity issues for the most part. Still, it is inconvenient and not sustainable in the long run. It is not feasible to continuously request a new IP address to protect your privacy. It is akin to an individual continuously changing their address in hopes of evading intruders.
Our internet service providers usually set up our public IP addresses, and they are not subject to change unless there is a real security threat. If all else fails, resetting the modem might coax an IP address change; if that too fails, well then, you can always try turning it on and off.
Surveillance is happening to all of us. It happens as we are walking down the street, swiping our credit cards or surfing the internet. Social sorting occurs when raw data is categorised into segments by data exploiters. David Lyon implies that social sorting occurring through surveillance is a serious threat to our individuality and freedom.
Furthermore, ISPs could potentially sell our data without our explicit consent and use it to meet their personal gains. We need to protect our right to privacy and security and not let giant corporations take advantage of our naivety. It is time that every individual adds a layer of security to their browsing by getting their hands on the Turbo VPN, which will prevent any IP based tracking and will ensure complete safety. Turbo VPN helps to protect your data and device at home or for business.
