You may be a satisfied user of a popular browser such as Chrome, Safari or Firefox without knowing that your privacy is at risk. This is because your browser stores a huge amount of personal information, such as the websites you have visited, your login credentials, and autocomplete information. Even if you use ‘private mode’ or ‘incognito mode’, the browser can record information such as your location and device and pass it on to other websites, trackers and advertisers.
That is why it is important to use a reliable browser. We have tested different browsers and selected the 4 best options for 2021. These browsers all ensure that your sensitive data is protected and not shared or sold.
Table of Contents
The Onion Router (TOR) – highly secure and encrypted connection for privacy
- Hides your location and prevents your activities from being tracked
- Never collects or shares your browsing data
- Works on Windows, Mac, Android and Linux
The Onion Router or Tor is a browser that offers a lot of privacy and multiple layers of encryption to protect your online activities. When you are connected to Tor, your data is sent through multiple ‘nodes’ or individual computers that are part of the network. This makes it practically impossible to track data from your device. This security feature makes Tor an excellent browser for journalists and whistleblowers or researchers working in countries with online censorship.
Tor includes 2 pre-installed extensions: HTTPS Everywhere (automatically improves website security) and NoScript (prevents vulnerable software such as JavaScript from running).
Unfortunately, Tor is quite slow because your data has to be sent through several nodes before your information reaches the internet. It can take up to 30 seconds to connect to a website.
Ungoogled Chromium – Daily updates for the latest security features
- Never tracks, collects or shares your browsing data
- RAll codes for specific Google web services (e.g. Google Host Detector) have been removed
- Works on Windows, Mac and Linux
Ungoogled Chromium is a Chromium-based browser. Chromium is free open-source software originally developed by Google. But this browser is much more secure and is not linked to Google. In Ungoogled Chromium, all the links with Google’s trackers and host detectors (tools that identify your IP address) have been removed. No part of your browsing history is recorded or shared with third parties.
Unlike many other browsers, Ungoogled Chromium’s software is updated daily. This keeps the browser very secure as known issues are resolved immediately. But you have to update the browser manually (there are no automatic notifications or reminders). To be on the safe side, make sure to download new updates only from the official website.
Epic Privacy Browser – automatically removes all browsing data
- Blocks ads and trackers
- Never collects or shares your browsing data
- Supports Windows, Mac, Android and iOS
Epic Privacy Browser is a browser with strong security and privacy that is also based on Chromium. All your browsing activities are stored locally on your device and automatically deleted when you close the browser. Furthermore, ads and trackers are blocked and your browsing activities are never shared with others.
Epic Privacy Browser only supports a very limited number of pre-installed extensions but this is actually an advantage, as many unsafe extensions may track your device. One of the most useful extensions is the built-in proxy that provides access to servers in the US, Canada, France, Germany, India and a few other countries.
Mozilla Firefox – highly customizable and supports many browser extensions
- Blocks ads and trackers
- Collects some data when you use certain functions (such as search and location)
- Works on Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS and Linux
Mozilla Firefox offers powerful privacy protection features and supports many different extensions to personalize the browser. Furthermore, automatic updates for the browser are regularly available, protecting you against the latest security vulnerabilities.
The browser blocks all ads and trackers and does not record your browsing history. Firefox collects non-identifying information about how you use the browser but this information is never sold or shared with others. The data collected is only used to improve the software and you can unsubscribe from the option at any time.
It may take you a while to get all the plug-ins and extensions you want but this is worth it if you want to use Firefox’s browser safely for your daily online activities.
