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Could you please suggest me a good anonymous internet browsing application for Ubuntu?

4
  • 4
    Does private browsing mode in chromium/firefox count?
    – dv3500ea
    Dec 3, 2010 at 19:26
  • Hi dv3500ea, I am looking for somehting like the TOR network. Which masks your IP with Proxy servers IP.
    – t3ch
    Dec 3, 2010 at 19:45
  • 2
    Something like Tor? So why not Tor? Dec 3, 2010 at 19:54
  • No I can use TOR, I just wanted to get an opinion from you guys. Maybe I was missing something good :)
    – t3ch
    Dec 3, 2010 at 19:57

5 Answers 5

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Tor is one of the best tools for anonymity on the internet. The most common way today is to use Tor is the Tor browser bundle, see this answer for more. You can use Tor without a proxy server, although the Tor project suggests using a proxy for better performance.

Installing Tor

Using any method, edit your repositories and add the Tor repository. See also detailed instructions for installing Tor from the Tor project.

deb http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org trusty main
deb-src http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org trusty main

Replace trusty with the codename for your release (check the output of lsb_release -sc). Make sure Universe and Multiverse Repositories are enabled.

Add the Tor GPG key:

gpg --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --recv A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89
gpg --export A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 | sudo apt-key add -

Update repositories and install Tor:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tor deb.torproject.org-keyring

Install Privoxy:

sudo apt-get install privoxy

Some GUI for Tor:

  • Vidalia is a graphical config tool.
  • Tor Browser can run off from a thumb drive without needing to install any software.

Note:
Privoxy is optional. It is a proxy and it offers additional features including adblocking. The advantages of privoxy include built in adblock.

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  • Thanks Karthick, I have used TOR on windows, didnt know its the best for Ubuntu as well. Any other solutions?
    – t3ch
    Dec 3, 2010 at 19:46
  • Kathick, Whats privoxy?
    – t3ch
    Dec 3, 2010 at 20:15
  • i gave you the +1 but please edit your answer to reflect adding to repositories...kthx...the gist is right though Dec 3, 2010 at 20:23
  • 4
    @t3ch Privoxy is an HTTP proxy that sits in front of Tor and strips out a lot of potentially-identifying information. Polipo is another alternative that may be preferred these days. Tor is preferred for pretty much any platform; everyone using Tor helps Tor's ability to anonymize. You might also consider installing Vidalia, a GUI for starting and controlling Tor. Dec 3, 2010 at 21:22
  • 1
3

One easy, effective way to anonymously browse The Internet is by using the Tor Browser Bundle which is partially based on Mozilla Firefox ESR.

Download Tor Browser Bundle

  • From here, select your Language and download the 32-bit or 64-bit flavor as well as the accompanying sig file to ~/path/to/TBB_directory.

enter image description here

Verify GPG Signature

  • Download Erinn Clark's key (as she signs Tor Browser Bundle packages):

    gpg --recv-keys 0x416F061063FEE659
    
  • Verify that the signature file was produced when Erinn's key signed your Tor Browser Bundle download (adjust commands if version is not 3.5.2 or Language is not "en"):

    cd ~/path/to/TBB_directory 
    gpg --verify tor-browser-linux32-3.5.2_en-US.tar.xz.asc tor-browser-linux32-3.5.2_en-US.tar.xz
    
  • You should see "Good signature.." in your terminal if successful (if not, download file again and try once more):

    gpg: Signature made Sun 09 Feb 2014 01:19:13 AM EST
    gpg:                using RSA key 0x416F061063FEE659
    gpg: Good signature from "Erinn Clark <[email protected]>" [unknown]
    gpg:                 aka "Erinn Clark <[email protected]>" [unknown]
    gpg:                 aka "Erinn Clark <[email protected]>" [unknown]
    gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
    gpg:          There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
    Primary key fingerprint: 8738 A680 B84B 3031 A630  F2DB 416F 0610 63FE E659
    

Extract Tor Browser Bundle Package

  • Right-click tar.xz file and select "Extract Here" or:

    tar -xvJf tor-browser-linux32-3.5.2_en.tar.xz
    

Browse The Internet using globally distributed, encrypted, and anonymous Tor network

  • Open newly extracted directory and double-click start-tor-browser or:

    ./start-tor-browser
    
  • Select Run if Ubuntu asks you how you want to execute the `start-tor-browser' script.

Congratulations!

1
  • But how to download *.asc file needed for gpg --verify ? Feb 25, 2014 at 17:48
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Firefox has basic support of "anonymous" browsing -- but that means only not storing history, cache and cookies. For "real anonymity" is best solution Tor:

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  • Any options like TOR?
    – t3ch
    Dec 3, 2010 at 19:46
  • @t3ch: I think there isn't another service like Tor -- you can try to use some proxy servers but the free ones are wery slow and paid aren't cheap... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server Tor works without problems on Ubuntu. Dec 3, 2010 at 19:50
0

If you are using Chrome or Chromium you can also use the following extensions. I'm using them and they look alright. The only problem is that it makes browsing the internet a bit slow.

-1

You could also use the "FoxyProxy" plugin, and some anonymous proxy action... that'd give you the same effect.

1
  • Could you explain a bit more? FoxyProxy is a plugin for what browser? What does it do?
    – Lucio
    Dec 21, 2013 at 18:45

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