While you are surfing online, everything you do is being monitored by an entity: your Internet Service Provider(ISP). The ISP is responsible for your internet access while they allocate you with an IP address.
Every piece of information you download or upload goes through their surveillance. You can say that your ISP provider is sitting at the perfect spot to treat with your information however they like.
What Data does your ISP can Track?
While your ISP is by-default authorized to track your activities, Does that mean they can watch everything you do? Well, the answer is both now and yes.
Firstly, ISPs cannot see any kind of data you are sending or receiving if it is encrypted.
On the other hand, if the data and connection you are utilizing are not encrypted, then there is every possibility that they can track your online movement (not necessarily) all the time.
Undoubtedly, your ISP tracks every move you make while surfing the Internet. However, it does not imply that they are sitting somewhere in the shadow to watch over your activities.
It works as a system. Whenever you make a query over your favorite search engine’s search box or open any website, your PC is then required to find the IP address of the site you want to visit. Your browser, in turn, will send you a DNS(Domain Name System) query to establish a connection between you and your website.
Below is a list of all the significant pieces of information that ISPs can track:
- Your presence over the Internet (Times and Dates).
- You Location while using mobile devices.
- Social media content.
- Websites surfing, online searches, and Unencrypted email conversations.
- Passwords.
Why ISPs track you?
There are four different reasons why your ISP monitors your stuff online.
1. Data Retention
As the internet medium has made its reach to every other person in the world. Like every other aspect of living, it also has come into government scrutiny over time.
Today, every other developing country allows ISP’s operators to track their consumers and log their data. This data, then, can be taken by the government’s security and law enforcement agencies to analyze in a pretense to counter-terrorism and identifying criminals.
Simply put, such monitoring under governments’ shadow presents little to no chance to tipsters or journalists to reveal their sensitive information by staying anonymously. To do so, they have to look for appropriate security tools.
Besides this fact, revelations made by the famous Edward Snowden, an American whistleblower, the previous decade, proves the fact that ISP monitoring has become a handy tool for the governments for mass surveillance.
2. Profit
Now that it is established that your ISP is tracking you and have all the information about your browsing habits and history. This information is very profitable for them if they use it. In most countries like the U.S, ISPs are legally allowed to do so.
Many advertising companies can contact ISPs to obtain your details for a reasonable sum of money. These companies, as a result, then analyze your data and launch targeted campaigns.
3. Bandwidth Throttling
Bandwidth Throttling is an exercise of intentionally restricting you to a particular internet speed relying on your online activities.
Bandwidth Throttling is another primary reason your ISP may spy on your Internet traffic. Not all ISPs do this, but some are in this cheeky business to boost their profits at the cost of service quality.
For instance, your ISP might restrict your internet speed to certain websites while you are streaming videos, preferring their rival’s content as opposed to theirs or using P2P platforms.
Wherever reason they may give you for throttling later-on, like preventing network congestion. The fact is most of the ISPs conduct this unethical practice to lure you into subscribing for a high-priced Internet plan.
4. P2P monitoring
It should not be a shocking fact for you that in most countries, File-sharing is not something that is considered legal. Laws have already been constituted in those countries in the same regard.
In pursuance of these offenses, ISPs are obliged to monitor their customers to see if these wrongdoings are being carried on. If so, they are bound to inform the copyright agencies with proof. The government, in turn, deals with these wrongdoings according to the law, i.e., hefty fines or legal action.
With no luck on your side, you may even land up looking for a lawyer.
How to stay away from ISPs Stalking
Now that it is established that your ISP is monitoring your online activities, what steps can you take to restrain them, if not entirely, then at least to some limit?
Don’t worry! I have compiled a list of the best possible ways to use the Internet without being over-watched.
The following are the four techniques you can adapt to stay under the radar from ISPs. Let’s dive into each one of them.
1. Use a VPN
One of the easiest ways to remain anonymous while surfing the web is to encrypt your internet traffic. You can achieve this target quickly by using a VPN (Virtual Private Network).
A Virtual Private Network is a security tool that possesses multiple servers in different locations. It routes their consumers’ internet traffic via these servers, encrypts it, and then changes their IP address making their browsing activities discreet.
While using a VPN connection, your ISP is aware that you are using it, but they cannot see your browsing stuff.
What’s the benefit of using a VPN connection when you are just giving it your online sovereignty, which on the first hand, you are so critically against sharing with your ISP? You might wonder!
Firstly, it only happens when you are using a free VPN service. As they are also in the market to earn somehow, a few numbers of them do so by selling your browsing information to the advertisers for the same reasons ISPs do.
You can curtail this kind of cheating by choosing premium VPNs that have a no-logs policy. In other words, As they have a declared polity of not spying on your internet activities, so they cannot be forced to share them with your government or ISPs.
2. Use Tor
The second in my list of security tools for encrypting and anonymizing your traffic is Tor, The Onion Router.
Tor channels your internet traffic via multiple servers, commonly known as nodes, that are operated by volunteers.
Tor servers are distributed in different parts of the world, because of which it is difficult to trace from where the traffic is being originated, which in turn helps you hide your web activities from your ISP.
All being said, Tor is not usually considered as the best solution for many reasons. It only encrypts your surfing. Neither does it encrypt you downloading files or software, nor can it shelter you using the Internet on other devices.
As it channels your internet traffic through various numbers of nodes, it also slows down your connection speed substantially.
Furthermore, you can never be sure about who those volunteers are managing the servers. They can be hackers or government agencies or an ISP.
3. Use a proxy
Using Proxies is our third recommended technique to stay under the radar from your ISPs. Proxy is a server that works as a mediator between your device and the Internet.
Proxy in a layman’s term is a computer connected to the Internet assigned with its IP address that your PC knows. Any web request you make goes through the proxy server first. The server then generates that web request on your stead receives the response from the webserver, and puts forth the web page data so you can interact with the page in your browser.
Utilizing proxies is more beneficial only when you are accessing geo-restricted content.
Having said that, proxies don’t really encrypt your online activity, which leaves you susceptible to hacker’s assault or monitoring. Moreover, same as Tor, you cannot really know about who is sitting behind those servers.
4. Use HTTPS
Hypertext transfer protocol secure(HTTPS) is the updated version of HTTP, a fundamental framework used to transmit data between websites and web browsers. HTTPS ensures the transmission of data with top-notch security.
In other words, websites’ URL composing of HTTPS is beyond the reach from ISPs tracking as they are encrypted.
Using HTTPS websites, however, does not make your identity completely hidden. Thereby, besides the fact that ISPs will not be able to know what you are doing, but they still are aware of the websites you are visiting, the extent of data downloaded, or the connection times.
In experts’ opinion, using the combination of HTTPS along with VPN will ensure your online security compared to merely using HTTPS.
Conclusion
Whatever may be reasons given to you by your Internet provider or the government, however legit it may seem, it is just a violation of your privacy rights. It is utterly discomforting when you realize that somebody is watching your every move over the Internet.
Luckily, these four practices are there for you while making your own decision on how you want to surf the Internet. It’s ok, If someone going through your browsing history, benefitting from it, does not really matter to you. On the contrary, you can encrypt your internet traffic to restrict the breach of privacy rights.
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Images courtesy of Pixabay.
