How do I Hide my Online Activity?

Hiding your online activity from people with access to your devices might be as simple as using incognito mode on your browser. But, if you want to hide your online activity from malicious entities online, you will need to use a VPN and mask your IP address.

Additionally, using an avatar for your gaming and social media and avoiding your real name and information will be essential if you want to avoid different types of attacks and harassment.

We can categorize four types or levels of online issues from which you will want to hide your online activity:

1. Government, corporate, and illegal surveillance
2. Individual harassment and stalking
3. Economic espionage
4. Social media mob mentality

And, even with a VPN and good behavior, you won’t be immune to all of the issues that might occur. But, good software will prevent such attacks from causing real-world damage. What does a VPN hide? You know how to use it to protect the essentials.

And with providers like Le VPN, you can have an easy way to protect your devices and sensitive data. The only thing left at that point is to not share that data directly and to hide your identity when you are communicating.

Why is it Important to Hide Online Activity?

While getting to my current physical location is difficult for anyone, if you were to know what is my private IP address, you could pinpoint exactly the satellite dish I am using to connect to the internet. That’s why I need a VPN, and it is the same reason you need one as well.

Regretfully, most people only focus on a single type of online activity, thinking that the rest are safe. But, the fact that someone is unable to steal your private information doesn’t mean that they can’t harm you in some way.

For instance, online mobs are a real thing, and they are very unpredictable for individuals. If you are not protected with a VPN, you can get swatted or stalked at your residence. But, even if you are protected, you can endure the stress of getting threats and harassment online.

The latter is easier and much less dangerous, but annoying nonetheless.

Protecting Against Criminals and Governments

Some will argue that these are the same groups, but there is a difference in the goals of two entities that will want to track you and collect your data.

Namely, governments do this because they want to control. They want to know if you are not acting anti-socially and have connections with people with ”wrong” political views. And what is considered wrong will depend on where you live.

Criminals have a much more direct impact and can harm you even if you are apolitical as their goals are primarily economic. They want to collect your private information to sell to the highest bidder that will steal your identity.

Security against Harassment and Stalking

Harassment and stalking are done by individuals. And, while these persons are few and far between, you are playing against the rule of large numbers.

For instance, if you are still playing World of Warcraft, you will be in the same place with more than 4.5 million players. If one in one thousand is malicious and harassing, that is already 45.000 people; a small percentage – large numbers overall.

The same goes for social media. More than 145 million people are active every day on Twitter, and you only need a fraction of them to be malicious (and they are) to have a very bad time.

Business Security and Sensitive Data

Most companies and businesses will try to have some cybersecurity from the start. But, any holes in your security can mean direct financial and business losses. Also, you don’t want others to have access to your proprietary information and technology.

Especially when work is done in larger or remote teams, having something like a P2P VPN will be essential to protect your work files and communication with clients.

Security against Hate Mobs and Cry-bullies

This is where a VPN won’t help and why you need to be smart and discreet online and practice cyber hygiene. The worst thing is that such attacks don’t always happen because you are political.

You might fall under attack for not liking a movie or being critical of some event. Even private individuals have suffered attacks because of ”wrongthink” online.

Hate mobs and cry-bullies have different reasons for harassing people but have most of the same tactics. They will notice that you are not in-line with what they want and try to punish you to express power over others.

Hate mobs will usually focus on minority groups or unprotected individuals because they know that you can’t fight back. Cry-bullies won’t have an identity they target but will attack you for any expression they don’t like.

This includes harassing your employer to fire you, or even your family and friends. And that is why you don’t want to tell anyone who your close connections might be.

Conclusion

There are multiple reasons why you should hide your online activity. This doesn’t only include your browsing history hidden from your partner, parents, or children, but your actual IP history that is logged online.

And the only way to protect the latter is with a good VPN. Ideally, you will want premium providers like Le VPN that will protect all of your devices and ensure fast connections with impenetrable protection.

But, even with the best VPN, you will still need to be discreet and not share your private information willingly everywhere for the public to see.