How to erase your digital trace and become “invisible” on social networks

Every time someone taps on their profile, completes a banking transaction, leaves a comment or starts a search, they spread a virtual path through the network. What security measures to adopt so that, without giving up social contact, this footprint becomes immaterial.

Many companies hunt for those traces that float adrift through social networks. In this digital tide it emerges from private information, frequent contacts, comments left and their location. With this material you can determine personal tastes and preferences.

“Every digital step we take leaves electronic marks, which are picked up by some opportunists. The solution is not to build a protective wall to isolate yourself, but to find a solution balance between social presence and privacy,” says Jason Adler, software engineer at Repocket.

And while many say they have nothing to hide on their computer, revealing some of their privacy isn’t a big deal. The really dangerous thing is not knowing who the information is being given to.

Not everyone seeks stardom on social media. For those who aspire to be an opaque spectator and limit themselves to playing videos, reading news and following debates – without giving up their presence – there are a series of protocols that can be put into practice.

The question is whether, to maintain anonymity, it is appropriate to resort to incognito browsing on Instagram and TikTok or turn to an encryption platform. When to use a VPN or secure software. What other tools can be used?

A silent mode

Many believe that the Incognito mode – a feature already included in most browsers, such as Chrome, Safari or Edge – guarantees absolute immunity and safe browsing. But this is a mistake.

Your only privilege is to open a browsing session that it doesn’t save the history of pages visited on your device, so that if others access the same computer, they cannot know where it was located.

This method will maintain a certain degree of secrecy until the content is downloaded to the machine, with which it will be rewarded I like to videos or publications or start sessions on a social network.

Furthermore, under no circumstances will the browser prevent the entry of malware or activate any protection against malicious pages. It just prevents collect data.

To make matters worse, Google has been shown to keep Chrome logs via cookies and analytics that continue to work even after you turn on incognito mode.

“If you use Chrome, Google can see almost everything you do online and, unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about it. Delete all the cookies you want or browse in incognito mode, there is not much difference, since it will continue to collect data about your Internet activity”, indicate from the security company Kaspersky.

No footprints in sight

To achieve digital invisibility promoted, the key point is to prevent third parties from identifying your IP address when viewing posts. Something that can only be achieved via Tor or VPN.

Tor (short for The Onion Router) is a secure browser for anonymity. It is based on Firefox and is also the gateway to the Deep Web, to visit pages that are not indexed in classic engines.

Its biggest selling point is that all information sent or received is automatically encrypted, which prevents any snoop from spying on what’s happening inside your windows.

It is based on a network of servers, distributed across the planet, configured by individuals and volunteer organizations who allocate their own resources, computers and bandwidth, to support network operations.

Connections are encrypted behind a series of relay nodes that resemble the layers of an onion.

While the anonymous nature of Tor keeps you away from prying eyes, hiding your connection causes bottlenecks, an effect that also affects browsing speed, which can be very slow. Slower.

Furthermore, because the information it carries is not so easy to collect, some social networks, when they detect that someone is traveling on Tor, can block access, make it difficult to enter or limit some functions.

An additional level of security

To escape this trap you can use Tor in combination with a virtual private network (VPN), which is like a dark tunnel through which data travels. While Tor keeps you and the website anonymous, a VPN adds an extra layer of privacy.

VPNs are like a shield that, in addition to protecting the information exchanged, evaporates any trace from the eyes of hackers, authoritarian governments and even the telecommunications companies that provide the bandwidth.

The advantage for those who use social networks and other contact platforms is to avoid direct exposure of data, especially if you connect to public networks. It is very simple to determine the user’s location and send targeted advertising or even obtain some confidential information.

Most VPNs impose restrictions on the amount of data they can transmit and receive. This means that if you try to download large files or watch long media content, your access may be blocked.

There is no room for the curious

To make this framework more robust, there are some solutions that help maintain the protection shield, allowing you to browse the web and stay socially connected, without leaving a trace.

In this sense Ghostery is a browser extension that warns you when someone is being tracked. It is responsible for preventing ads, trackers and online advertising networks from collecting, transmitting or sharing information and avoiding scams.

Unlike traditional engines, DuckDuckGo, Startpage and Swisscows prioritize privacy and anonymity, as they do not store data, recordings, search history or share information with third parties.

Added to this are Signal and Telegram, encrypted messaging applications known for their commitment to privacy.