A Noob’s Guide to Being Private and Secure Online

A simple setup that keeps my family and me safe from prying eyes on the internet

I have spent the last few years becoming more and more conscious of the tracking data I leave behind. I am no crook or criminal, but I still don’t like the idea of companies and governments knowing every little thing I do. I especially dislike that most of my data is just used to serve me ads.

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I have taken several precautions to leave as little data as possible. It is nearly impossible to be invisible online. Somewhere, someone will know at least something about what you are doing. For example, India is getting digitized. The government knows a lot about me because of all the inter-linked systems they have put in place. They know what I spend, how much I make, what phones I have, and where I fill fuel. That is just unavoidable as days go by.

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But I can at least stop some companies from snooping when I am online. Here is how I do it.

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Moving away from Chrome

First, I stopped using Google Chrome. Google controls most of its features, so there is very little you can turn off or harden. I switched to Firefox-based browsers about two years ago. Today, I use **Zen as my primary browser and [LibreWolf](https://librewolf.net/)** as my secondary. I use Chrome only for Google products when they break on my other browsers.

The power of containers

I created containers in both my browsers. On Zen, I have containers for personal, work, Google, and “isolated” apps. Sites like Instagram are always opened in the isolated container. On LibreWolf, I sort them by company — Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon.

The advantage of containers is that your data stays in silos. This means Google doesn’t know what I do on Amazon and vice versa. These companies obviously know what I do on their own sites, but they don’t know what I do everywhere else.

I use an extension called **Containerise** to manage this. I configured it to open sites in specific containers automatically. For example, Gmail and YouTube always open in the Google container, while Goodreads and Amazon open in the Amazon container.

Adding a bit of obscurity

I also use the **User-Agent Switcher and Manager** extension (also available for Chromium-based browsers). This scrambles my browser details. I have it set to look like Microsoft Edge on Zen and Opera on LibreWolf. It helps a little bit with obscurity and decreases my digital fingerprint just a touch.

Taking over the network

I used to use Cloudflare’s DNS on my router and Adguard apps to block tracking. A few months back, I switched to my own instance of Pi-hole. This is an ad-blocking system I self-host on a Raspberry Pi and a cloud VPS.

I changed my DNS settings to route all my Wi-Fi traffic through Pi-hole. This stops the internet service provider from knowing every site or server I connect to. You can’t avoid it completely, but it helps for most situations.

Privacy on the go

Lastly, I configured all our devices to connect to my internal VPN called **Tailscale** when we are not at home. This way, when my mom or I are on mobile data, all our traffic is routed through my home network and through Pi-hole. My phone provider sees very little of what is going on. It also helps when we connect to other Wi-Fi networks. It acts like an automatic VPN.

Is this for everyone?

As I re-read this, I realize it might not sound like a total noob’s guide. I have had my Raspberry Pi since 2021. That gave me years to tinker and learn. You might not have a spare PC to self-host services, and if you do, you might not know how to set it up. I accept that.

But the least you can do is:

• Change your browser and enable DNS-over-HTTPS.
• Install the extensions I mentioned.
• Use a private DNS like Cloudflare or Adguard on your router to stop your ISP from snooping.
• Use a service like **Mullvad VPN** when you are doing something sensitive.

I haven’t seen an ad while browsing in years. I see ads on YouTube or Instagram because they are served internally, but they are not personalized. These systems don’t know what I am looking at online.

If you are still not convinced, read I Have Nothing To Hide by Heidi Boghosian. She explains that privacy and anonymity are required by all of us, even if we have nothing to hide. I hope this helps you and your family stay a little safer.

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If you’re interested in how ancient strategy can help founders survive and thrive, you might enjoy my books, **A Startup Founder’s Guide to the Art of War and [Design a Better Business](https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0FTS4C5VZ)**. They are full of candid stories, field-tested advice, and practical lessons for anyone building something from scratch.

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