Your browser doesn't lie, your DNS betrays you
Most people think that the incognito mode in their browser protects them from gazebos. But that is a persistent illusion. When your computer asks a DNS server: ‘Where can I find pornosite X?’, Your ISP knows exactly what you're up to. Not about. Not anonymously. Just like that. Exactly. And let that provider sell that information to advertising companies, data slurpers or other parties that are hungry for your digital behavior.
‘If you do not pay for the product, you are the product.’
DNS: the Internet Address Guide
DNS stands for Domain Name System. It is the digital telephone directory of the internet. When you visit a website, DNS translates a user-friendly address as www.pornositeX.com to a technical IP address that your computer understands. This way your laptop knows where it needs to be. In fact: Every time a device (be it your computer, smartphone, smart TV or thermostat) looks up anything outside of itself, such as a website, an update or an app that makes contact with a server, the DNS is consulted. And every question you ask a DNS server is logged. And usually that server is set up by your ISP. He sees everything.
“Transparency for them, loss of privacy for you.”
From provider to profiteer
By default, you use your ISP's DNS servers. That's 'handy', they say, but actually it's a cunning default. Everything you look for passes through their servers. They know when you're at home, what you're watching, how often you do it, and at what time. And no, an incognito window doesn't protect you from that. What you call ‘private’, they call ‘monetizable data’.
‘Trusting the provider is like handing over your diary to the gossip press.’
DNS4EU: moral compass in a digital sewage pipe
There's hope. DNS4EU is a European initiative that offers DNS services without data sales, without logging, and with the option to set up custom protection. Do you want child-safe filters? Kan. Do you want to block ads? Kan. Prefer everything unfiltered but safe? That is also possible. All you have to do is adjust one setting on your device or router. Simply explained on their website, or let your nerd nephew do it.
‘Privacy should be the default, not a luxury option.’
My home network, my rules
I now use DNS4EU on all my systems with their ‘Protective Resolution’. After my holiday, my router will also believe in it, so that every device in the house - from smart thermostat to teenage phone - is free from the data grabbing business of Google, Microsoft, US government agencies or my own provider. Because when I say something private, I really mean it.
“A safe home starts with a reliable DNS.”
English (UK)