Topic hub

Online anonymity guides: tools, habits and honest limits

How to separate what you do online from who you are: anonymous browsers and networks, live operating systems, throwaway email and numbers, fingerprinting defences and the OPSEC habits that hold it all together.

39 articles ยท updated

Anonymity topic hub illustration: a Tor-style relay circuit passing through three nodes with a crossed-out eye, an envelope and a fingerprint around it
Anonymity is a set of tools plus a set of habits. Each guide covers one tool and the habits that make it work. Diagram: webvpn.org.

Anonymous email

Tor and onion routing

I2P

Anonymous operating systems

Browsing and fingerprinting

Phones and numbers

Search, payments and metadata

Hide your IP

Habits and hardware

How to use this section

Anonymity online is not one product. The articles are grouped so that you can pick the layer you need. Anonymous email and Phones and numbers deal with identities: how to set up an address or a number that is not tied to your name, and where that separation breaks. Tor and onion routing, I2P and Anonymous operating systems cover the networks and live systems that hide where traffic comes from. Browsing and fingerprinting explains why a hidden IP address is not enough when your browser itself is recognisable, and Search, payments and metadata covers the everyday leaks that most people forget.

The older guides on this site are the starting point for IP addresses: how to hide your IP address, the iPhone version, the browser version and the history of the webvpn.org web proxy.

Frequently asked questions

Which anonymity guide should I read first?

Read how to be anonymous online first. It explains the threat model idea, which is the question every other guide assumes you have answered: who are you hiding from, and what would it cost you if they succeeded.

Is anything on this site illegal to use?

Tor, I2P, Tails, Whonix, Qubes, PGP and the email and phone tools described here are legal to download and use in most countries, and are used daily by journalists, lawyers, researchers and ordinary people. Some countries restrict or block anonymity tools, so check local law, and remember that a tool being legal never makes an illegal act legal.

Do these guides link to dark web sites or marketplaces?

No. The guides explain how onion services and I2P sites work technically, but they do not list addresses, name marketplaces, or explain how to buy anything. The content is about protecting yourself, not about acquiring things.

Last reviewed and updated on . Plain text version: /anonymity.txt.