The detrimental effects of phone apps, social media, and other technology platforms are alarming. As more activities move to the internet, so does the burden of preserving your identity and personal data.
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Therefore, using a mobile VPN tool has become even more fundamental. This tool routes your traffic through secure tunnels, encrypting your data and making you anonymous. Premium VPN services like ExpressVPN utilizes AES-256 bit encryption standards, which are typically used in military coordination. But again, the question arises, how safe is ExpressVPN?
Due to the centralized nature of the web, almost everything that you do online contributes to the multi-million data market. Every instant message and website visit generates a data point.
The advertisements you see online seem to be a great fit for your interests, have you noticed? Many individuals think that it is a coincidence. But, the truth is that companies use hundreds of data factors to manipulate and track your online behavior.
And it gets worse. The state may monitor every facet of a citizen’s conduct in certain countries.
Not just that, your devices serve as a surveillance army to authoritarian governments. Because of this, the government can justify acts such as violence. We have seen this kind of authoritarian control through web tracking in Ukraine.
Moreover, it is no surprise that tech behemoths and tech giants generate money from selling people’s data.
Through this tactic, companies earn more money by making “well-informed” decisions. For them, it’s a smart investment and trading move. But, these companies won’t admit to selling or exposing your information.
It’s scary to be in the know, but it’s vital in this digital era. In this blog, we’ll teach you how to remain anonymous despite these circumstances. Read on to learn more.
Phone Apps & Social Media Privacy Breaches Expounded
Almost everyone uses phone apps and social media nowadays. Not only do they serve as a communication tool, but they are also used to conveniently buy goods, book appointments, and many more.
But, there’s more to this than what meets the eye. Social media involves risk, and privacy breaches are ridiculously prevalent.
First and foremost, social media profiles contain tons of personal information. May it be your profile photo, age, job, marital status, and more. Companies analyze and access these insights with the use of monitoring technologies. It is so easy for them to track consumer activity, competitor analysis, and more.
Let’s take Facebook as an example. You agree to specific terms and conditions during the app’s installation procedure. Advertisers gain access to sensitive information, such as private messages and images. But, there is no disclaimer to inform you that they share your information. How terrible, right?
And your pre-installed apps are also not as harmless as you think they are. Based on a study on Android devices sold by over 200 different sellers, some pre-installed apps pose a further risk of intrusive data collection.
“Users are unaware of the numerous data-sharing partnerships and relationships that exist between businesses that have a say as to what comes pre-installed on their phones,” says the study, which calls for greater transparency and a genuine chance for consent about data collection.
Furthermore, most apps contain utility services from corporations like Facebook, Alphabet, Twitter, Verizon, Microsoft, and Amazon that allow them to track and send user data to these corporations.
For various reasons, these utilities are included in apps by their developers. They may be utilized by the app developer, for example, to display advertisements or track app usage.
The researchers warn that it’s common for them to access data that isn’t directly relevant to the app being used, but they don’t make any statements about what information is transferred to businesses.
How To Remain Anonymous: VPN With Zero-logs
Your phones must have built-in privacy safeguards, but guess what? They don’t! Not only do your gadgets put data in danger, but it also paves the way for political manipulation-based tactics.
The best tool to remain safe and anonymous is a VPN with a zero-log policy.
Essentially, a VPN encrypts your internet traffic on a device and reroutes it through a VPN server in the user’s preferred location. As a result, the device’s IP address is masked, and third parties, including ISPs, are unable to monitor traffic.
On their servers, most VPN providers use shared IP addresses. An IP address is assigned to dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of users. This tool makes tracing the online activity of a single user in the pool nearly impossible.
Do take note that VPNs are designed for privacy, not anonymity, so if you wish to truly remain anonymous, avoid using just any VPN. Privacy and anonymity frequently go hand in hand, so you should sign up for a premium VPN with a zero-logs policy.
A VPN provider with a “no-logs” or “zero-logs” policy does not hold any data about the contents of users’ traffic. Thus, you remain anonymous while using the internet. This type of VPN is reliable for whatever purpose- streaming, gaming, data-gathering, and many more.
But it’s not quite that simple. Some VPNs offer empty promises, but they still keep your metadata. While metadata does not contain details about your traffic, it may include information like the time you used the VPN, how long you used it, how much information was transmitted, and your true IP address.
Examine a VPN provider’s privacy policy for details like this. You may also contact their support group for more information.
