Best privacy oriented web browser?

[Reason]

Any suggestions?

Currently I commonly use Firefox with the https everywhere addon, the noscript addon, and the adblock addon.

I use duckduckgo as my main search engine.

Any other suggestions?

[pcosmar]

Any suggestions?

Currently I commonly use Firefox with the https everywhere addon, the noscript addon, and the adblock addon.

I use duckduckgo as my main search engine.

Any other suggestions?

Iron.
http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php

[cjm]

https://www.torproject.org/

[WilliamC]

torproject.org with Firefox, but to get the most out of it seems you need something called torsocks that for now only works with Linux and MacOSX.

But for vanilla anonymous browsing off of Windows platforms the above seems worth looking into.

Works with RPF at least.

[Yieu]

Advice on privacy from a previous post:


Use NoScript on FireFox, and block URLs you absolutely never want your computer connecting to in the hosts file. There are many other things that can be done, but these have the largest effect as far as blocking yourself from accessing servers you do not want to.

To change your browser to not query Google if you type a URL incorrectly into the address bar:
Open a new tab, type about:config, and press enter.
In the search bar at the top of the about:config page, search for the term "keyword" without quotes.
To have the browser do nothing when a URL is typed incorrectly, change the "keyword.enabled" key to "disabled".
To have the browser open a secure search page instead of Google when a URL is typed incorrectly, change the "keyword.URL" key to one of the following:
https://ssl.scroogle.org
https://www.startpage.com
https://www.duckduckgo.com

To block google-analytics.com in the hosts file:
Navigate to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc.
Right click on the hosts file | click Properties | uncheck "Read Only" if it is checked | press OK.
Open the hosts file using notepad.
Add the following text under where it says "127.0.0.1 localhost":
127.0.0.1 google-analytics.com
127.0.0.1 ssl.google-analytics.com
127.0.0.1 www.google-analytics.com
Save and close the file.
Right click on the hosts file | click Properties | check "Read Only" if it is not checked | press OK.
It is important to make sure the file is Read Only after you save and close it so that other programs cannot alter the hosts file.

To add NoScript as a FireFox add-on:
In FireFox, go to Tools | Add-ons.
Search for the add-on NoScript and click "Add to FireFox".
Other suggested add-ons are:
Adblock+: to block ads on websites, use the EasyList and EasyPrivacy filters.
HTTPS-Everywhere by EFF: to force a set list of websites to use SSL/HTTPS encryption, which encrypts the data sent between your browser and the webserver.
BetterPrivacy: to quickly delete Flash cookies.
CookieCuller: to help you keep the cookies you want to keep, and quickly delete the rest of the cookies.

[pcgame]

try opera

[Xhin]

The tor browser comes with an anonymized IP address and NoScript (provided you have firefox installed). I think there might be a way to get it to "go undercover" or whatever the phrase is where history/temp/cookies/etc are not stored. It is a bit laggy though.

[eduardo89]

https://www.torproject.org/

Download the Tor Browser package.

[Agorism]

Seems like the more well known the browser becomes the less off the radar it is. I remember when no one knew what firefox was like 5 years but now everyone is familiar with it.

[Yieu]

Seems like the more well known the browser becomes the less off the radar it is. I remember when no one knew what firefox was like 5 years but now everyone is familiar with it.

It is not about whether people are familiar with a browser. It is about the browser offering enough tools to block tracking attempts.

[pcosmar]

Seems like the more well known the browser becomes the less off the radar it is. I remember when no one knew what firefox was like 5 years but now everyone is familiar with it.

I was using Mozilla before Firefox came out.

But the real problem is not so much the Browsers, (Some are better,some worse).. The problem is the Net and Government interference/intrusion. And those with a wish to Control.

[Yieu]

But the real problem is not so much the Browsers, (Some are better,some worse).. The problem is the Net and Government interference/intrusion. And those with a wish to Control.

Correct. It has nothing to do with a browser's proliferation or popularity, and everything to do with blocking malicious attempts to connect to your computer.

Any attempt by anyone to connect to your computer without your authorizing or initiating it would be what I consider a malicious attempt to connect, whether government, corporate, or otherwise.

[pcosmar]

Correct. It has nothing to do with a browser's proliferation or popularity, and everything to do with blocking malicious attempts to connect to your computer.

Any attempt by anyone to connect to your computer without your authorizing or initiating it would be what I consider a malicious attempt to connect, whether government, corporate, or otherwise.

This is why your Firewall is your first line of defense.

I do suggest testing your firewall,, and recommend this.
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
https://www.grc.com/image/passed.gif

Your system has achieved a perfect "TruStealth" rating. Not a single packet — solicited or otherwise — was received from your system as a result of our security probing tests. Your system ignored and refused to reply to repeated Pings (ICMP Echo Requests). From the standpoint of the passing probes of any hacker, this machine does not exist on the Internet. Some questionable personal security systems expose their users by attempting to "counter-probe the prober", thus revealing themselves. But your system wisely remained silent in every way. Very nice.

Anything other than this result should be considered unacceptable.

[Yieu]

This is why your Firewall is your first line of defense.

I do suggest testing your firewall,, and recommend this.
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

That is true, it is the first line. But I like to tweak the system a bit beyond that, by double-ensuring that the system is unable to reach even more IPs that the firewall might miss.

I'm currently using Comodo. I used to use ZoneAlarm.

I've seen that link before. NoScript blocks it from running its tests. ;)

Of course connections made outside of the browser could still be vulnerable, so it's still something to run to check for vulnerabilities.

Something I forgot to mention in my first post in the thread, which I'll edit back in, is another IP blocking tool to use is Peer Block 1.1. It is definitely not a substitute for a full firewall, but it is a nice addition to one. It blocks a list of IPs from being able to connect to your computer, much like the hosts file, but the lists update and you can configure it more quickly than the hosts file.

I still use the hosts file for some things, because Peer Block blocks some game servers, so sometimes I turn it off, though sometimes I look up which IP ranges to allow so that I can leave it on.

Peer Block is not just for people who pirate. It blocks governments and universities from connecting to your computer, as well.

The point being here, is that unless you initiate or desire the connection, the connection to your computer should be blocked.

[WilliamC]

This is why your Firewall is your first line of defense.

I do suggest testing your firewall,, and recommend this.
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
https://www.grc.com/image/passed.gif


Anything other than this result should be considered unacceptable.

Unless you are allowing tor to bridge off of you and are forcing all traffic through https, in which case sockets 80 and 443 are open and unstealthed.

Oh, and my streaming audio leaves one open too.

Or am I giving too much away?

[pcosmar]

That is true, it is the first line. But I like to tweak the system a bit beyond that, by double-ensuring that the system is unable to reach even more IPs that the firewall might miss.

I'm currently using Comodo. I used to use ZoneAlarm.

I've seen that link before. NoScript blocks it from running its tests. ;)

If you are running No Script you would need to Allow in order to test.

I run Shorewall. And it can also be tweaked even further..
I am not terribly paranoid, and it gives good results.

There are several good Firewalls. And that site has a lot of other good security info,, especially for those still running windoze.

[pcosmar]

Unless you are allowing tor to bridge off of you and are forcing all traffic through https, in which case sockets 80 and 443 are open and unstealthed.

Oh, and my streaming audio leaves one open too.

Or am I giving too much away?

I am running Full Stealth.
My computer makes no connections that I do not initiate. No open ports. Does not answer pings.

Oh and I run 2 firewalls Hardware and software.
;)

Test your system. It will show you any Open Ports and you can reconfigure your firewall to close them.

[Yieu]

If you are running No Script you would need to Allow in order to test.

Indeed, you would.

I had just recently built a new computer, so I hadn't set everything up yet.

The first test had the ports blocked. So I turned on the router's firewall, then they were stealth.

[Anti Federalist]

This is why your Firewall is your first line of defense.

I do suggest testing your firewall,, and recommend this.
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
https://www.grc.com/image/passed.gif


Anything other than this result should be considered unacceptable.

Thanks Pete, that was good info there.


https://www.grc.com/image/passed.gif

Your system has achieved a perfect "TruStealth" rating. Not a single packet — solicited or otherwise — was received from your system as a result of our security probing tests. Your system ignored and refused to reply to repeated Pings (ICMP Echo Requests). From the standpoint of the passing probes of any hacker, this machine does not exist on the Internet. Some questionable personal security systems expose their users by attempting to "counter-probe the prober", thus revealing themselves. But your system wisely remained silent in every way. Very nice.

[eduardo89]

My brother's philosophy:

"I don't download viruses so why do I need a firewall or anti-virus program?"

[pcosmar]

My brother's philosophy:

"I don't download viruses so why do I need a firewall or anti-virus program?"

How has that been working out for him?

[eduardo89]

How has that been working out for him?

Shockingly he had the same laptop for 4 years without any major problems. It was actually the screen that broke that made him get a new one. I have no idea how he managed that.

[AFPVet]

Latest version of Firefox with Noscript plugin.