If you’re looking to avoid the aggressive marketing tactics where the same advertisement seems to chase you around the internet, or if you’re trying to access content that has been blocked by your ISP for whatever reason, we’ve got some solutions for you.
How to browse anonymously on your iPhone or iPad
First things first, we’re going to make sure all the settings on your phone are optimised for your privacy. Head into your Settings, then go into Safari. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find a bank of settings called Privacy & Security. There are a number of settings here that you’ll want to enable, including ‘Ask Websites Not To Track Me’, ‘Prevent Cross-Site Tracking’ and ‘Fraudulent Website Warning’.
You’ll also find an option here to ‘Clear History and Website Data’, which you can hit if you’re concerned about other people checking up on your phone physically. You’ll also find a sneaky option where you can enable limited ad tracking, this will be under Settings > Privacy > Advertising. Turn that one on too. When you’re done browsing, make sure you close all your tabs in Safari too. You can do this by tapping the pages icon at the bottom right of your screen, which will display all your open tabs. Close them all to ensure the next person that uses the phone can’t just stumble across something you were looking at. If you’re curious to see what is tracking you, you can download an App called Ghostery from the app store. This will allow you to see and block anything you don’t want watching you.
Get yourself a VPN
A virtual private network, or VPN, will keep you anonymous online. Websites won’t be able to track you, as you will appear from a different location in the world. When you connect to a VPN, a private tunnel is created that will keep your data encrypted. You can then access the internet through this server, and you can even select where in the world you’d like to appear from. So while you might be sitting in your bedroom in London, to the wider internet you can be in Berlin, Boston or Buenos Aires at your preference. This is also especially good if you want to access the US version of Netflix. You can turn your VPN on, select a server in the USA, and Netflix will then believe you’re there. You’re then free to enjoy US content that wouldn’t otherwise be available in the UK (for whatever reason). This may sound complicated, but VPN services such as NordVPN are designed to be extremely user friendly. You can download and set one up in a matter of moments, and they will cost you less than the price of a cup of coffee per month.
