Here’s something most people don’t realize: incognito mode does almost nothing. It clears your local history, sure. But every website you visit still sees your IP address, your browser setup, even the fonts you’ve got installed. That’s enough to identify you pretty reliably.
The real question isn’t whether you’re being tracked. You are. It’s whether you can do anything about it without tanking your internet speed.
Why the Usual Tricks Don’t Work
About 86% of internet users have tried something to stay anonymous online. Clearing cookies, using private browsing, that sort of thing. And look, it’s better than nothing. But it misses the big picture.
Your ISP logs everything. Every site, every download, every late-night Wikipedia rabbit hole. Some countries require them to keep these records for years. Your browser’s private mode? It hides nothing from them.
Then there’s your IP address, which basically announces your general location to anyone who asks. Websites use it for geo-restrictions, advertisers use it for targeting, and bad actors use it for things you’d rather not think about. Changing it is the first real step toward actual privacy.
Residential Proxies: Speed Without the Red Flags
This is where things get interesting. Residential proxies work by routing your traffic through actual home internet connections. To any website, you look like a regular person browsing from their living room. When you buy residential proxies at MarsProxies.com, you’re getting IPs that real ISPs have verified. Websites trust this way more than datacenter IPs, which get flagged constantly.
The speed thing matters here. VPNs encrypt everything, which sounds great until you’re waiting forever for a page to load. Proxies skip the heavy encryption, so they’re snappier for everyday stuff like streaming or research.
Want to see what Netflix offers in Japan? A Japanese residential proxy handles that. Need to check prices on Amazon UK? Same deal. Geographic flexibility is half the appeal.
The Fingerprinting Problem
Masking your IP only goes so far. Websites have gotten clever with something called browser fingerprinting. They collect a bunch of details about your setup (your screen resolution, which plugins you use, your timezone, your graphics card) and smash them together into a profile. Wikipedia has solid documentation on device fingerprinting if you want the technical breakdown, but the short version is this: your combination of settings is probably unique enough to identify you.
Proxies alone won’t fix fingerprinting. You’d need to pair them with browser tweaks or use something like Tor Browser, which standardizes a lot of those settings. It’s a layered game.
When VPNs Make More Sense
VPNs aren’t useless. They’re actually the better choice when security matters more than speed. Cloudflare’s documentation on VPN performance gets into the technical weeds, but basically: encryption takes time. Your traffic has to be scrambled, sent to a server somewhere, then unscrambled. That adds latency.
But if you’re doing online banking at a coffee shop, you want that encryption. Public WiFi is a playground for anyone with basic hacking skills. A VPN stops them from seeing what you’re doing.
Picking What Actually Works for You
Most people don’t need one solution. They need different tools for different situations.
Streaming geo-blocked content? Residential proxy. Checking your bank account on hotel WiFi? VPN. Doing competitive research without tipping off rivals? Rotating proxies. Pew Research found that over half of internet users actively try to hide from specific people or organizations. The tools exist; it’s just about matching them to what you’re actually worried about.
Getting Started Without Overthinking It
Figure out what you’re actually protecting against. Advertisers building profiles on you? ISPs selling your data? Someone more targeted? Different threats, different solutions.
Whatever you pick, test the speed first. Nobody sticks with a privacy tool that makes browsing feel like dial-up. The best setup is one you’ll actually use every day.
And rotate your IPs if you’re doing anything sensitive. Using the same proxy repeatedly creates patterns, and patterns are exactly what trackers look for. Mix it up.
Privacy online isn’t about going completely dark. It’s about not making it easy for everyone to piece together who you are and what you’re doing. With the right mix of tools, you can browse normally without handing over your digital life to whoever’s watching.