How do espionage organizations and online surveillance services track users who surf the Internet from their PCs or smartphones "> Who can see our IP address and what can they do with it? Tor network
One of the most effective ways to hide the IP address on PC, Android and iPhone is to use the Tor network .
Through this free service our encrypted connection will be "bounced" on several different computers and servers; in the end we will go out on the Internet with a new public IP address and a new geographical position, without the possibility that the server contacted (or anyone who tries to monitor the connection) will never find out where we are really connected.
To use Tor on PC, simply download the Tor Browser program, available for Windows, Mac and GNU / Linux; it is a modified version of Firefox to quickly access the Tor network and protect all browsing data. We can also access the Tor network from mobile, by downloading the Tor Browser app for Android and the Onion Browser app for iOS / iPadOS.
In this regard, we invite you to read our Guide to configure Tor with foreign IP, so that you can learn how to manually set the country of the desired exit IP address.
VPN proxy
If Tor seems too slow and we still want to adequately protect our IP and our connection, we will have to point to a VPN service, which uses encrypted and secure servers scattered around the world.
With this type of service our connection will always be encrypted and addressed in a precise tunnel (impossible to intercept for the operator and for the secret services), so that we can "go out" on one of the servers set up as a service proxy, thus providing us a new IP address and a new geographic location. The most famous VPN services do not store any browsing logs, offer numerous servers to choose from, allow you to control the level of encryption and security and their offices reside in countries without the obligation to communicate computer data (essential to avoid investigations). VPN servers are managed by companies and maintaining these services costs: that's why most offer a limited free trial version (a total of MB or hours available), with very few totally free services.
The best totally free VPN service is ProtonVPN, available for free without time or connection limits but with a limited number of servers to choose from (we can unlock all servers and maximum connection speed only by subscribing to a subscription). ProtonVPN is also available for free for Android and iOS / iPadOS.
To learn more about the subject and learn about other VPN services (also for a fee), we invite you to read our guides on the best free VPN services and programs for safe and free surfing and the best VPNs for Android, free and unlimited iPhones .
Proxy Server
As an alternative to VPNs, we can use simple Proxy Servers, which are placed between our connection and the destination server by changing our IP and our geographical position (without using tunneling, as seen on VPNs).
Free proxy servers often offer poor connection protection (without encryption and with a low connection speed), while more advanced proxy servers actually offer the same advantages as a VPN (dedicated program, advanced encryption, no log and IP change quick), with the possibility of being able to configure the connection without a program (since all modern operating systems and web browsers require the addition of a manual proxy server). Some of the most popular proxies on the internet are provided by Proxify.com, Anonymouse and Hidemyass, but we can find others to take advantage of for free in our guide to the best proxies and programs to go to darkened sites .
To manually configure a proxy, please read our article on How to set up a proxy on Chrome, Internet Explorer and Firefox .
Proxy VPN extensions for browsers
If we want to hide the IP address on a PC in a simple way, without having to install Tor or VPN programs or without getting our hands on Proxy configurations, we can also use browser extensions, able to hide our IP and the position like a proxy server or a VPN.
One of the best extensions in this sense is Hola!, available for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. It allows with a single click to change IP and locations while browsing, so as to open foreign sites and browse incognito. The service is totally free and without limits, but asks for a part of the bandwidth and CPU power in order to bear the load (the only real limit).
Hola! it is also available as an app for Android and iOS / iPadOS, so as to bring its advantages even when we surf from mobile. If we are interested in Hola !, please read our dedicated article Accelerate the web and stream with Hola .
For Chrome we can also set up VPN extensions, as described in our Best VPN for Chrome guide (Free extensions) .
Conclusions
Hiding the IP address can be done in many ways, using private software or online services. We choose the method and the service that we consider most suitable for us, so as to protect our business on the net and be untraceable when we surf on foreign websites or on dubious sites. If we often access foreign sites with blocked content for Italy, using proxies or targeted extensions will allow us to overcome all the limits and to display content without problems, as seen also in our guide on How to open each blocked or obscured site in 6 ways .If, on the other hand, we want to extend the protection of a VPN to all devices connected to our home network (without configuring them one by one), we can set the VPN parameters on a suitable router, as seen in our in-depth description Configure VPN on Router .
