10 Basic Steps to Digital Privacy

[NavyNature]

@Gunther

9. Change Your DNS Provider and/or Use a VPN

Believe it or not, your ISP is another company that is likely mining your internet activity to sell to data brokers. However, there are some simple steps you can take to mitigate this risk. Firstly, you can change your DNS provider. DNS is the protocol by which domain names (like example.com) are translated to IP addresses, which computers use to connect to other servers. By default, you are likely using your ISP’s default DNS resolver, but you can do better. Go into your internet router’s settings and change the DNS resolver servers to a more private provider like Quad9 or AdGuard. Both of these DNS resolvers block domains associated with malware and AdGuard blocks domains associated with advertisements and tracking as well. In addition to changing your DNS resolver in your router settings, you can also change it in your PC or phone device settings or in your browser settings. This has the advantage of working even when not connected to your home network and can take advantage of [encrypted DNS lookup protocols]. If you’d like to set up a custom ruleset for your DNS resolver to block any domain you’d like, [Adguard can do that for you] and so can [NextDNS]. Of course, hiding your DNS queries from your ISP still allows them to see every IP address you connect to. This can be prevented by using a trustworthy VPN provider. Many VPN providers will claim a variety of benefits that come from using a VPN but these are often exaggerated and the main privacy benefits are (1) hiding the servers you connect to from your ISP and (2) hiding your own IP address from the servers you connect to. Of course, by using a VPN service to achieve these goals, you are simply shifting your trust from your ISP to the VPN provider, so make sure the VPN provider you use is trustworthy! Almost all free VPNs, and even many paid VPNs, are collecting and selling your data. The most-trusted VPN services as of this writing are [ProtonVPN], [MullVad], and [IVPN]. There are a few free and trustworthy VPN options, such as [ProtonVPN’s free tier], [RiseUp VPN], and [CalyxVPN], but these often have throttled speeds and as a general rule you should expect to pay for a trustworthy VPN service. Another free option that provides the privacy benefits of a VPN (and a lot more as well) is the Tor Browser. Unlike VPNs, the Tor Browser [distributes trust amongst multiple third parties] and does its best to allow you to browse the web anonymously. However, your browsing speeds using Tor will be quite slow compared to using a standard web browser with a quality VPN, so it may not always be the best solution.

Are there any downsides to using a DNS Provider? And changing the DNS Provider in our router settings? Thank you for this guide!!