3 Ways to Setup Anonymous Web Browsing on Linux

This simple but informative guide will facilitate you to surf the web secretly while using Firefox on Linux. But for doing this task you will need to install these two important tools:

1. Tor: It is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.
2. Privoxy: It is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for enhancing privacy, modifying web page data, managing HTTP cookies, controlling access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks.”

Three Easy Steps to Set-up Anonymous Web Browsing on Linux:

1. Set-up Tor and Privoxy: You can quickly install Tor and Privoxy on Ubuntu with this command: “$ sudo apt-get installs tor privoxy”.
2. Configure Privoxy: Edit /etc/privoxy/config file using your preferred text editor.
   For this example, we will use gedit:$ sudo gedit /etc/privoxy/config

   Then, overwrite the entire content of /etc/privoxy/config with this configuration file:

   Generally, this file goes in /etc/privoxy/config
   forward-socks4a / 127.0.0.1:9050 .
   confdir /etc/privoxy
   logdir /var/log/privoxy
   actionsfile standard
   actionsfile default
   actionsfile user
   filterfile default.filter

   debug 4096
   debug 8192

   user-manual /usr/share/doc/privoxy/user-manual
   listen-address 127.0.0.1:8118
   toggle 1
   enable-remote-toggle 0
   enable-edit-actions 0
   enable-remote-http-toggle 0
   buffer-limit 4096

   Next, restart Privoxy with this command: “$ sudo /etc/init.d/privoxy restart”,

3. Install Firefox Torbutton plug-in: Torbutton provides a button to securely and easily enable or disable the browser’s use of Tor. It is currently the only add-on that will safely manage your Tor browsing to prevent IP address leakage, cookie leakage, and general privacy attacks. Fire up Firefox and install the Torbutton plug-in. After installation, restart Firefox and you are ready to surf the web anonymously.