How good is the anonymity and security in minimalist browsers?

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I’m finally getting a linux laptop. Because this will be a secondary computer for me for a while, I have the luxury of arranging it in an sub-optimal way without it impeding on my life.

One interest I have is in curbing my addiction to the internet by using a computer that makes browsing less appealing, but I don’t want to sacrifice security or anonymity. I also want to get used to using my computer like a computer, and not like an internet box.

Terminal browsers like Links and Lynx, or minimalist browsers like Surf and Qt are what I’m thinking of. I’m just wondering how these compare in their ability to anonymize compared to Brave, Librewolf, Mullvad, Tor, etc. I’m sure they are just as private or more than these, but that’s not what this thread is about. I want to know how anonymous/pseudonymous they are in comparison, and how secure they are in comparison.

Also, I’m not concerned about how usable they are in the modern internet right now. Yes, I understand that Youtube may not be great to browse using Surf, but that’s a concern for another day. At this point, an addictive website like Youtube being harder to navigate is a bonus for me.

Right now, I use several extensions to make my browsing more safe and anonymous. I use LibRedirect to direct me to more privacy respecting alternatives (of which I hope to someday completely self-host). I use uBlock Origin, but considering I also use Mullvad DNS to block ads, I’m not sure how necessary that is. I use Mullvad Proxy on some sites (pro-tip if you use Mullvad VPN: Albania apparently doesn’t get Youtube ads, so setting Youtube to always be proxied there may help avoid the “please turn off your adblocker” pop up).

I also have letterboxing on, and other things that aren’t relevent in terminal browsers, and maybe difficult in minimalist browsers. I’m also unaware of hardening efforts for any of these.

Any help or direction would be appreciated!

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I’m pretty sure this makes you less safe and not anonymous at all because your are easily fingerprintable.

uBO with your password manager is pretty much all you really need. Maybe Sponsorblock and Dark Reader too. But that’s it. I recommend you reconsider the number of and the kinds of extensions you have and use. ANd if you couple this with the right browser settings and a VPN, you’re golden (for the most part).

Also, reading your post, I think you’re conflating privacy with anonymity. They are not the same. I hope you know that. If not, please read up on it. Privacy Guides has a great write up on it.

Only Tor Browser is recommended and generally used for anonymity. Every other way one browses only provides privacy, not anonymity.

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Also, this is a difficult question to answer since it is put so generically.

It would all depend on what you really want and how you’d like it. If you’re looking to curtail your internet use with specific apps or websites, I recommend using features of NextDNS and employing that in your OPSEC.

But otherwise, Brave or FF or any other GUI browser you mentioned with the right settings and only select extensions are more than enough to be private and secure to a great extent. And then use Tor only when you need anonymity.

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How anonymous? This relies on 2 main factors

  • The anonymity set size. This is the amount of participants that wear the same “outfit”, and are reasonably considered indistinguishable.
  • The above strongly relies on the anonymity “outfit”, so this outfit has to be all encompassing, hiding all that is unique to you. Tor browser is made for this exact purpose. I’m pretty sure minimal browsers like Surf, and terminal browsers are not specialized in hiding all unique parameters. While arguably it has less parameters, there also still many unconsidered and probably also above the paygrade of the developers to even consider them.

And thanks for posting this post, it made me curious about different ways of browsing the web wich decrease distractability.

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Btw I love Libredirect. It’s great. Yeah like Howard said it doesn’t make your browser more anynomous but it certainly protects your privacy by sending you to sites that don’t care about having/selling your data (redlib, invidious etc)

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