How to Opt Out of Everything Online

Browser Tricks

If you don’t trust (or you don’t want to deal with) all the individual online marketing companies, there are several browser-based solutions you can use to keep your activities to yourself.

Cookie Settings

Each browser has its own privacy settings and, generally, cranking those settings up to the highest level can stop a lot of potential tracking activity dead in its tracks.

Blocking cookies—especially third-party cookies–is an easy way to prevent yourself from being tracked. Certain websites rely on cookies to function properly, though, so an across-the-board cookie crumbling won’t always be ideal. But it can’t hurt to try and you can always revert back to lower settings.

Here’s how to find the cookie settings for each popular web browser.

Internet Explorer | Mozilla Firefox | Google Chrome | Apple Safari

Private Browsing

Alternatively, you can use your favorite browser’s private browsing setting, which will theoretically leave no trace of your goings-on. Just make sure all your extensions are turned off and make peace with the idea that truly private browsing hasn’t quite been perfected yet (see this Ars Technica article).

Here’s how to browse privately with your browser of choice:

Internet Explorer | Mozilla Firefox | Google Chrome | Apple Safari

Extensions

And last but certainly not least, you can employ any number of browser-based extensions to undermine various marketing ploys.

Here’s a short list of some of the more well-known extensions:

Internet Explorer:

Mozilla Firefox:

Google Chrome

Apple Safari