2. Using Proxies
Using a proxy server is a less popular but effective method of circumventing geo-restricted sites and hiding your browser activity from ISPs. They operate by routing your data through different servers which may be located inside or outside your country of origin.
You must be sure that the proxy service you are using is reliable. If you use a proxy operated by a dishonest business, your data may be vulnerable to tampering and your device may be infected with malware.
When compared to a VPN, some proxies lack an encryption method and will leave your traffic open to attacks. Therefore, make sure your proxy uses encryption.
Apart from that, Proxy servers also only work on certain apps or browsers, whereas a VPN will protect all your internet traffic. However, one small advantage of proxy servers is that server speeds are generally faster than what you get with a VPN.
3. Change DNS settings
DNS (Domain Name System) is a system used to translate domain names into IP addresses of computers or servers connected to the internet. DNS is in charge of converting domain names to the appropriate IP addresses.
The problem is that your computer is usually set to use your ISP’s DNS, which means your ISP sees all your browser queries. To ensure that you are not using your ISP’s DNS, configure your PC to use a third-party DNS service such as OpenDNS.
4. Visit only HTTPS websites
You may be quite familiar with HTTPS, as it appears at the start of many URLs. Each URL that has HTTPS encrypts the content on the page, hiding it from the ISP you use.
This is one of the best ways to protect you from ISP tracking and also your privacy on the internet. HTTPS does not anonymize you on the internet. So even if it can’t see what you’re doing on HTTPS sites, your ISP can still track which sites you’ve visited, how much data transfer happened, etc. They won’t know what you did exactly.
5. Leverage the Tor network
Tor is an encrypted browser that routes your data through a worldwide network of computers to hide information from your ISP. Your data and traffic are routed through various computers known as nodes around the world. Thousands of these computers (or nodes) work together to clutter and hide the data of the websites you access.
The only drawback to using the Tor network is that your internet speed will be slow and it may take a few minutes to reach a web page. Also, when using the Tor browser, you will be asked to solve the Captcha on every page.
In addition, Tor will only protect your information and prevent your ISP from monitoring your activity when you use the browser, not when you use other applications.