How to Start an Anonymous Online Business
Recently, concerns about online privacy have grown. According to a survey by the Pew Research Centre, 86% of internet users have at one point or the other taken steps to mask their digital footprints. Considering the reasons behind this, a cumulative 50% of internet users opted for online anonymity based on security-related issues. These include hacking of email and social networking accounts, online harassment's, theft of personal details such as social security numbers and online scams. A decision to remain anonymous even while running an online business doesn’t have to involve underlying evil motives. Online entrepreneurs who opt to be anonymous have various reasons for doing so. For some, it is a measure to avoid the prying eyes of government officials as well as spammers and hackers, while others are just “private individuals” who are somehow wary about their name tags on any online material. You can call that online introversion if you like! Online scams keep growing as online business are becoming popular, hence the need to utilize measures to cover our online footprints. Therefore, if you want to start an online business with a measure of anonymity, you will find the following tips invaluable:
- Use a Burner Phone: The excitement that comes with free things is better experienced than described. If you have experienced slight delays at the airport or bus station, you will agree with me that the period of delay is often spent surfing the web using the free public Wi-Fi connection. Well, public internet services are basic amenities which many of us enjoy and no one gets arrested for using it. However, for an online entrepreneur looking to maintain anonymity, you might be revealing your personal details by joining public Wi-Fi hotspots. A burner phone can help to avoid this. Using a prepaid phone with Wi-Fi hotspot compatibility is a perfect way to use the internet anonymously. Prepaid carriers can’t share your personal information because it’s not collected from its users, unless you voluntarily submit it. You can give any name, or no name at all. Like all mobile devices, you can be tracked while using the device. The problem for law enforcement or organizations that track phones illegally is that the user can discard the phone whenever they please. By changing devices and making cash-only transactions, it’s possible to avoid detection completely. In addition, a burner phone can also be used for online purchases and subscriptions if you are keen on avoiding unwanted text ads.
- Use a Tor Browser: Irrespective of the type of operating system you use or whether your internet connection is by Wi-Fi hotspot or a LAN cable, ensure you use an anonymizing browser. The Tor browser can serve this purpose. It is a security-focused version of Firefox that routes all web traffic through the Tor network. A random set of nodes through which data is routed ensures anonymity. Ensure to always check your clients’ e-mails using the TOR browser. Even clicking on a link or an image can reveal your location, so avoid this without a layer of anonymity. It is also advisable not to use a chat service to chat with customers as there are ways to track you with WebRTC methods.
- Accept DeepOnion as a Payment Method: DeepOnion is a cryptocurrency based on the Tor anonymity network. If your goal is to have e-commerce plugins on your website, whether you will remain anonymous after receiving a payment or two will depend on your payment method. The DeepOnion plugins for online stores is highly secured and transactions are untraceable. This is in contrast to other payment methods with plug-ins, allowing traceability of transactions and also exposure to violations. DeepOnion online payment plugins are expected to be released by the end of this year by team members DogLover and Impressive at the DeepOnion community. It will be available for WooCommerce, Magento, and Prestashop platforms. Your received Onions can easily be exchanged for Bitcoins which you can withdraw at ATM terminals using Bitpay.
- Share Large Files with OnionShare: As a business owner, you might need to share large files at some point. If this is what you do on a regular basis, you are probably familiar with cloud storage services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and others. While these cloud storage methods are cool, they don’t offer much regarding privacy. OnionShare is an open source tool that lets you anonymously share files of any size via the Tor network. To share files, OnionShare generates “.onion” link/address by which the recipient can securely download the files using the Tor browser.
In addition, if you are hoping to store important documents online beyond the reach of malware and data pilferers, you might be interested in DeepOnion’s upcoming DeepVault feature. It is a file verification feature to be added to DeepOnion wallets. It will allow storage of file validation credentials within the blockchain. Watch out for this amazing feature.
- Use Burner Email Addresses: Also known as “Disposable Email Addresses” (DEAs) or “Anonymous Email Addresses,” burner email addresses are short-term email addresses that guarantees anonymity for the duration of its use. No personal details are required to sign up for one, so the recipient will never know where the mails are coming from. With a temporary email service like Guerrilla Mail and Trash Mail, you can always set up new random addresses with just a click. Using burner email addresses with a Tor browser can also help to provide an extra layer of security.
- Use a "No Logs" Anonymous VPN in desktop/laptop: Even when using a prepaid phone with Wi-Fi hotspot you still should have a VPN to further protect your whereabouts and add another layer of protection. There are many great VPN services that offer no logs. Some of the best VPN services are Torguard.net, TigerVPN, and NordVPN. These will not share your information, not even with government agencies. Also, cryptocurrencies are accepted as payment methods.
- Limit the Use of Credit Cards for Online Transactions: If anonymity is your goal, it is safer not to use credit cards for online transactions. Most online business owners are probably aware of this and instead make online payments using transfer services such as PayPal. Still, these transfer services bear records that can easily lift the veil of anonymity. So, it is better to use cryptocurrencies, especially those with layers of security such as DeepOnion. I understand not everyone accepts cryptocurrencies as a payment method, at least for now. All in all, if you have a choice, opt for the best option and ensure your privacy isn’t given away cheaply!
Finally, in order to achieve total anonymity while running your online business, you might need to combine several of these methods. This will make it more difficult for any individual or group to invade your privacy. No doubts, this is an era of data security and nefarious elements hoping to prey on our resources will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Therefore, we need to reinforce our online security measures to match up with current challenges. Fortunately, DeepOnion keeps evolving to curtail these challenges with the introduction of new features to ensure anonymity via the Tor network. Its acceptability on online stores with the introduction of the soon-coming online payment plugins will go a long way to address issues relating to theft of credit card details and also offer more secured online transactions.