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I've had difficuties finding all the informations I'm looking for on how to reduce one's fingerprints on the Internet, during "everyday" network surfing.

I'm found this post which is interesting : Whats the best way to make my internet traffic anonymous? with the anwser made by Shnatsel [1] But it doesn't quite answer my need and is too broad for me

My question is about how much fingerprints are put on the internet when I'm surfing. Say I'm a standard user using Google Mail, Google Maps, IMDB, Facebook, Flickr, etc. on a regular basis. I want to know how can I be more discreet than what I would call an "average user"

My questions are then as follows :

This site : http://donttrack.us/ and the post [1] referenced hereabove say that Google saves our search queries such as "cancer", or "herpes", etc.

  • Obscuring traffic is a part of the problem as [1] said. I'm thinking that having a good cover can help (such as false ID), is this assumption correct ?
  • What if I create a false Google Account for Google Maps, Mail, etc. ? Does it keeps my prints from being linked to me by Google ? If not, how can I prevent it ?
  • Does using a site like Flickr can be tracked ?
    • By Flickr itself ?
    • By Google ?
    • Will it interest a governmental instance if I'm a random user ?
    • How can I avoid it ?
  • If I'm a random insignificant person on the internet making a query about sensitive material (weapon, drugs, etc.). Will the NSA or any instance keep track of my browsing and be able to store that I searched for said sensitive material ?
  • What if I use DuckDuckGo for instance ? Does it anonymize me in any way ? How can I be completely sure that DuckDuckGo is not reselling any information whatsoever and lying to its user saying it's tracking-free ?

  • Is it helpful for anonymization to do "normal" queries with a standard Firefox and sensitive searches or mailing, or blogging with a Tor Firefox Bundle ? I'm thinking that using Tor seems to attract interest from governmental instances. Maybe it attracts more interest than it anonymizes, is this true ?

  • If I'm using a false ID for Google, using DuckDuckGo and Tor for sensitive research or blogging, or mailing, is it a good start or is it completely useless ?

Community
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Anonymous12223
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  • about the google sneaking, there are some services that claim not to comply with that. Search provider startpage.com get you google results, but does not track you. You may also use [Aviator Browser](https://www.whitehatsec.com/aviator/). It is made by a security company to address various issues, mainly about secure browsing but also keeping an eye on privacy. – DarkLighting Jan 07 '15 at 13:26

1 Answers1

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Alrighty, number one layer up on these plugins:

  • HTTPS Everywhere: encrypts traffic so only you and the website know what your traffic is
  • Adblock: can't be tracked if the ads and trackers don't load
  • Ghostery: blocks common trackers and social media widgets from loading and calling home

Now for some answers to the questions I know: (Also, It's pretty typical to ask one question per post. Just so we don't get bogged down.)

Does using a site like Flickr can be tracked ?

-- Yes. If someone's watching your internet traffic.

By Flickr itself ?

Hell yeah. It's in their best interest to keep data on their users, for diagnostics and legality.

By Google ?

Two ways: if you get to flickr via Google, google can see that you clicked their search result link. If Flickr uses Google analytics, then they can see because, well it's their service!

Will it interest a governmental instance if I'm a random user ?

I don't know. Depends on how interesting you are in other places.

How can I avoid it ?

Government surveillance? By being paranoid as hell. The websites watching you? Stop using them.

If I'm a random insignificant person on the internet making a query about sensitive material (weapon, drugs, etc.). Will the NSA or any instance keep track of my browsing and be able to store that I searched for said sensitive material ?

Ask the NSA. They are a tight-lipped bunch.

What if I create a false Google Account for Google Maps, Mail, etc. ? Does it keeps my prints from being linked to me by Google ? If not, how can I prevent it ?

I mean, to Google it's just another account. I'm sure if they gave enough of a crap they could correlate IP addresses, search habits, location similarities to get other accounts that could be held by the same person. But I really don't think they care all that much. They're more interested in the big picture, and the probabilities of advertisement.

Ohnana
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    I see. Thanks for those some informations (and the advice, sorry btw). I heard that Ghostery was a piece of crap that didn't really blocked the traffic of social media, and that using NoScript was the way to go. Would you concur to that ? – Anonymous12223 Jan 07 '15 at 14:58
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    I find ghostery to be very helpful. Of course, websites could evade it. NoScript darn near makes the web unusable, so ghostery is a good compromise. Just take care during installation to check the "everything" box for all categories -- software is only as good as its user. – Ohnana Jan 07 '15 at 15:29