What web browser do you use

[Fwiss 29]

From what I've seen, IE has improved since IE9. IE10 and IE11 are nice in some ways. I would attribute its problems to being proprietary, but perhaps its more important defect is that it is prone to Microsoft's massive design mood swings, so it often has Microsoft's latest fads tactlessly shoved in. If you're using IE, I recommend you at least use the latest version.

[Tesseract 0]

SRWare Iron - feels like Chrome, but doesn't send all your browsing data to Google servers.

[Fwiss 29]

Tesseract, I hate to be a buzzkill, but SRWare Iron does have its problems. Mainly, it is proprietary software like Opera, IE, and Google Chrome. Additionally, it still connects to Google without the user's consent in certain edge cases. That's acceptable if you hold it to the standards of IE and Chrome, but it is not acceptable as a privacy browser. It does not have Chrome's proprietary Flash player or PDF viewer, but you should be used to that anyway because SRWare Iron doesn't either. Maybe try blocking Google domains in your hosts file, if you can stand to avoid Youtube. The likely case with Iron is that they removed Google bits (albeit sloppily and incompletely), but added in something worse that doesn't make such obvious requests. The fact it's proprietary and sloppily edited like this leads me to believe that, if Iron is not actually malicious, the devs are at least incompetent.

[Tesseract 0]

It's ok, Fwiss. What would you recommend then?

[Fwiss 29]

Hmm, not really sure. I'd personally recommend Firefox, but Chromium, the Open-source version of Chrome might be worth a try. I've heard differing opinions regarding it, so I'm not entirely sure about it. On one hand, at least a few Google trackers have been removed from it. However, it is possible that it still has certain Google services in it by default, such as it making it the default search in the omnibar. If auto-complete is enabled in the omni bar, you may be sending searches and URLs you type to Google without ever pressing enter. It may also send every URL you access to Google through some setting under the guise of virus protection ("Google, is http://sensitivehealthcare.gov/ihaveaids safe?" messages). To my knowledge, vanilla Firefox also has this setting enabled by default. It appears that the safe browsing protocol downloads a list of reported attack sites regularly and only sends info when an attack site is encountered. It's possible for someone with Google access to do some kind of targeted attack using websites it suspects you visit (by telling you alqueda.com is an attack site, your browser would contact Google), but an adversary who could do that kind of thing (a nation-state or some large companies) has better ways to track you, and it's an active attack; you don't have to worry about it. I've also heard that because Chromium is developed largely by Google employees, some Google things that simply wouldn't fly in Firefox are kept. Really, at this point I'd recommend using Tor Browser (a free Firefox fork with many, many configuration changes and privacy patches). Even if you don't use Tor, you can just disable Tor and browse through the clearnet like normal.

Independant of browser, Google can track you. The fact is, many pages on the web have Google trackers built into them through Google Analytics, Google Fonts, Google+ buttons, and the like. If you have cookies enabled, Google can track you around the web because those kind of buttons send info. They can also get your IP address, but IP addresses are unreliable identifiers, and I'd actually be surprised if they still used them for anything other than geolocation. Unfortunately, anonymity becomes tougher and tougher the more you look into it, and I've just said the most obvious things.

Simply switching to Firefox or Chromium will reduce the quality and quantity of information you send to Google. Using Tor Browser goes even further to reduce your digital footprint. As this happens, trackers like Google will get less information about you, and the "digital picture" of your life loses resolution. The physical metaphor would be the difference between knowing your location and velocity every 3 minutes and knowing your location every day. Both are intrusive, but one is far less so. In other words, use Chromium or Firefox; if you're willing to deal with a little less convenience, such as not saving your passwords in the browser, give the Tor Browser Bundle a try.

[Tesseract 0]

I already have Tor, but I used only a couple of times to go into Deep Web. Thanks for the information though, guess it will be better choice to switch to Firefox.

[sweet_lil_Eliza 49]

For one thing, Fwiss- is google chrome safe for me if I don't have much stuff to hide. Because I've never tried Firefox and it'll be hard for me to get accustomed to it, I might try, but for the meantime, I do need something good.

Also, you did told about the newer versions of IE, which do you think is better, the new IE or Google chrome?

[Fwiss 29]

Google Chrome is probably safe if you don't have anything to hide. The problem is that you most likely have something to hide, even if you don't know it. Go through your Google Search history (perhaps start at the beginning) and see if there's nothing that could be misconstrued to damage you somehow. Maybe also look at your browsing history. Whether or not it was innocuous at the time, the disturbing thing is that your behaviors can be used against you retroactively. Local police departments can simply subpoena Google for all information it has on you. There are far-reaching consequences for everything you do on the Internet that can be used to harass, harm, and embarrass. Almost nobody has to worry about the shady intelligence regime labeling them "subversives" and "terrorists." The more immediate threat to you would be a disgruntled officer, or a hacker who breaks into your Google account and blackmails you for financial gain. In any case, it's best not to keep logs. Chrome tries to herd you into Google's services, and that is one problem with it.

I'd probably put the new Chrome above IE just because of Microsoft's tendency toward shortsighted fads. You yourself should decide which browser has the best user experience for you - it is generally the most controversial part of the browser, so choose what you like. Chrom{e,ium} have the best security models among the major browsers, but all browsers are dangerously vulnerable. There are many steps you can take, but if you don't have much to hide, and don't want to switch to Firefox, I'd say at least consider switching to Chromium and/or ensuring you have as few plugins and extensions as possible (ideally, none). There are a few privacy-preserving plugins, but if you're not worried about the general surveillance and general profiling, you won't need them. Switching to Chromium removes the unnecessary risks of Chrome's proprietary add-ins.

[ОранжевыйХвостик 0]

Mozilla FireFox.

[Shinomi-chan 294]

Depends actually... At home I mainly use Chrome. At school either Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox..

[Noodles The Echidna 23]

I have a chromebook, so obviously chrome. I do have a linux pc (raspberry pi), and on that I use Epiphany.

[Miles_Prower 3]

Suprising how many people use that non-existant 'Mozills Firefox' in the vote.