Web browser developers claim the right to call their products safe. The point is that not every browser puts equal emphasis on safety issues. For instance, “secure” browsers are designed with a different assumption, which involves cutting out all insignificant functions and limiting the use of plugins, to obtain the most minimalistic application possible.
For this, you will benefit from the eight best private browsers below. This way, no company or user will get your browsing data, cache, temporary files, download history and search history.
- Tor Browser
The Tor Browser connects with the infrastructure of “hidden” servers of the Tor network, providing the user with full privacy and adequate protection against surveillance. The application is based on a modified version of Firefox, comes with a set of tools to connect to the Tor network, can be installed on PCs (Windows, Linux) and Mac computers, or run directly from the USB key, if convenient.
The most important thing to remember is that Tor is, first of all, an advanced browser that protects users’ privacy and not necessarily the most secure. There is no malware protection module, no mechanism to block unnecessary or harmful plugins. Tor’s task is to anonymize network traffic, thus blurring user activity on the network. HTTPS connections are preferred, which, as in other projects of this type, is the responsibility of the HTTPS Everywhere tool.
Tor Project recommends actions that should be taken to maintain anonymity and security on the network; it also advises against what we should not do. To be sure, be careful when downloading and opening documents in external applications.
- Brave Browser
Founded by Brendan Eich, one of the founders of the Mozilla Project, Brave (brave.com/) is an open-source browser that has the potential to become a reliable alternative to Chrome and Safari, even in its early stages of development.
Brave is a lightweight browser that offers fast page loading and advanced features to protect against tracking user activity. The application blocks the capture of cookies by tracking applications. It is an ideal solution for privacy-conscious users. The browser is available for Windows, Linux and OS X, has a built-in HTTPS Everywhere extension and strong support from the developer community, always ready to improve their application.
- Epic Privacy Browser
Epic Privacy Browser is a private web browser that hides all your online activity as an ISP, downloaded fingerprint commands, IP address and session data, among other data. But apart from protecting you, the browser tells you who is spying on you when using the most popular browsers (Chrome, Firefox, etc.).
The browser encrypts every bit of data that leaves the browser and uses EpicProxy technology. The code used by Epic Privacy Browser is Chromium, modified. The Epic Privacy Browser is a free web browser available for Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.
- Iridium
Iridium is another private browser based on the Chromium code, although they have improved their security to the maximum. By using the same system as Google Chrome, we can find in Iridium the same services as in Chrome (applications and extensions, hotkeys, etc.). Iridium is a free Web browser available for Windows operating systems.
- Browzar
Browzar is a private Web browser that has unique features. The first feature is that it only weighs 250KB; this is because it is based on Internet Explorer and uses part of the components installed on your computer. And secondly it offers private navigation, but not anonymous. Browzar is a free web browser available for Windows operating systems.
- Dooble
Dooble is a private Web browser that uses the WebKit engine and has the feature that erases all navigation data once the browser is closed and your activity. The browser can also be encrypted using a keyword. Dooble is a free web browser that is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems.
- Comodo Dragon
Comodo provides not one, but two browsers: one based on Chromium, named Dragon, the other based on Firefox – Ice Dragon. The one to choose depends only on your preferences and habits: Chrome or Firefox because both versions are compatible with each other in areas such as password storage, favourites, and plugins.
Probably the most important feature available in the program is the ability to use secure Comodo SecureDNS servers to resolve addresses in your browser or all applications running on your computer. This approach potentially increases security and helps to protect the privacy of the user better, taking the use of DNS servers provided by the Internet Service Provider as a benchmark. Moreover, Comodo SecureDNS servers block domain name solutions for domains under which malware is distributed.
The most intriguing feature seems to be the virtual browsing mode, which effectively isolates the browser window from the computer operating system. This function requires the Comodo Internet Security (CIS) application installed on the computer. Not everyone may want to protect their network in this way, but from a security perspective, this option seems to be worth considering.
- Maxthon Cloud Browser
Although Maxthon (www.maxthon.com) does not put security first, it has a built-in AdBlock Plus with an “Acceptable Ads” filter on and options for synchronizing encrypted AES user data to the cloud. Many people may find it dangerous, but similar solutions are used by competitors, including Google.
Despite the new mechanisms of integration with the cloud, we cannot unequivocally state what makes Maxthon safer than popular browsers, especially if we profile their configuration in terms of security. However, some features are insufficiently explained and documented. For example, it is not entirely clear whether the browser has a download protection function, which has become a de facto standard in private browsers.
If you are looking for a VPN to encrypt your computer network to the internet, RitaVPN can anonymize your online identity thereby providing you with double protection while surfing the web.
