Hello to you, my faithful blog readers and privacy fans.
Today I am back with my most updated information about web browser alternatives to Chrome, Safari, or whatever you find preloaded on your phone or computer.
Back to Basics
Recently I was asked what a browser is and how it is different from a search tool? What is the difference? For those unfamiliar and new to using computers or the Internet, it seems like one connected thing, which is the goal of Google and Apple. Just open a web browser and start searching. Done!
But not so fast… Remember, with Chrome or Safari apps, you deal with BigTech, who want to keep everybody dumb. Realizing that you have choices in your tools to search the Internet is essential to keep yourself private and powerful.
The confusion begins when you have a phone or computer with loaded apps like Chrome or Safari. “Open the web browser and just start searching…”
Big mistake.
So the simple explanation is like this. The web browser (Chrome, Safari, etc.) is like your car, and Google search is like a GPS that points you to what you are looking for. In this case, you want to replace both your car and your GPS.
Both of them are tracking you and spying on all that you do. That is to say, it is time to replace your web browsing app and also fix your search settings in that app.
Step One:
Replacing your web browser. (e.g. Google Chrome or Safari) These apps are not designed with your best interests in mind. I understand that Firefox may be the most accessible private browser, but Brave is perhaps ok, at least better than Google Chrome.
There are ways of making these tools more private by configuring the settings. That I will cover in another blog post.
Here are my two recommendations:
- Firefox
- Potentially the best in terms of privacy.
- Brave
- I am using it often. It is a privacy-fixed version of the Chrome browser. The code is open-source, but there is some debate about the level of privacy. Again, I will explore this further in a future blog post.
The bottom line is this. Brave and Firefox are 100% better choices than using Chrome and Safari. You can run Brave and Firefox on your desktop and mobile, both iPhone and Android.
With all of these above browsers, you must go into the settings, and there, you can select DuckDuckGo for your search engine. Look for my video and article about search engines if you want to learn about other options.
There is another browser I discovered recently that looks neat, called Vivaldi. It has several pro-privacy features, but it is not open-source. That means there is no way to prove whether or not it is privacy-focused. The claim is that it is, but stay tuned to learn more about that.
Lastly, I have something that gives a level of super privacy for those of you who want to go the extra mile.
TOR (The Onion Router)
- Whatever you do through Tor is encrypted and relayed 3 times for your privacy. Think of the way that onion has multiple layers.
An easy way to try TOR is with Brave. On the desktop version of Brave, it is built-in.
Tor is what you want to get as completely anonymous online as possible. That comes at a price. The cost is your time. Using Tor is very slow compared to normal web browsing.
- Another way of using Tor is by downloading the browser called TOR browser.
- As expected, it is open-source. All traffic is routed through the TOR network. It prevents ads and ad trackers. There is auto-deletion of cookies and browsing history for your privacy. Using TOR is not for the beginner or the impatient. Escaping all the trackers takes time. It requires a lot of effort and patience to use, but for me, privacy is worth the effort.
- You can get the Tor browser for all your devices, but the Onion Browser app if you have an iPhone.
Last but not least, speaking of DuckDuckGo, they also have released their own browser. You can get it for both Android as well as iOS. I have not tried it out yet.
So there you have it. Just by taking simple steps to get rid of Google search or Chrome and switching instead to Brave, Firefox, and using DuckDuckGo, you will be far more private than using Google’s spying tools.
Here is something to remember with anything you do online. If the product is free, then YOU are the product. That means you are selling out yourself in most cases without even knowing it. Do you think Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook became rich by giving away Facebook for free? How did he become wealthy? Of course, he became rich by stealing everybody’s private information and stabbing the world in the back by using this information against them. The same story goes for Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, all of them! Do not help the billionaires. Keep yourself private. Do billionaires always keep themselves private and confidential online? Of course, they do! You must do likewise.
You will find related videos on my LBRY channel on odysee.com. I will see you with information on free speech video sharing platforms. Stay tuned.
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