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mojo84 wrote:Would those be considered private proxy servers?

Not sure if that question was for me, but

I would say PIA is not "private". The word "private" has multiple meanings here.

I can recommend PIA (Private Internet Access). Have used it several years. I pay by the year in Bitcoin - about $30. Paying with Bitcoin does not make this totally anonymous. PIA does not keep logs.

Using a VPN does not help at all with services you log in to, obviously.

mojo84 wrote:bbhack,
I have switched over to Brave on my android phone. However, I have not done so on my laptop as many of my carrier websites require IE, Chrome or Edge. Even Firefox is not widely accepted by the carriers.

It is a challenge to mitigate tracking on the web, especially when someone is techno challenged.

What's a "carrier website"? Requiring IE virus vector was a thing of the past, I thought.

Reducing your footprint on the internet is easy if your goal is something other than crime. Dread Pirate Roberts, who was busted for running Silk Road, was almost perfectly anonymous - almost. There are 2 things you can do right now that will help. The Brave browser reduces tracking technology effectiveness. Brave can be used as your everyday browser. The Tor browser is what you would use to look up something that you did not want to ever show up in your history - like hemorrhoid treatment or dental implants. Tor is limited, and you would not use it as your EDB. Tor provides complete anonymity as far as we know.

There's a little subject drift here, but it's mostly relevant. Tracking is really nasty, and you will never completely get away from it because that's the currency of the Internet. Reducing tracking tech breaks a few sites, but is usually well worth it. I use Chrome with Ghostery and Privacy Badger add-ons, and Brave browser (no add-ons needed), and sometimes Tor. I know it's working because sites complain about ad blocking making their business model not work.

Back to Facebook - they are probably the kings of tracking. Google has the advantage of knowing what you're searching for, but Facebook seems to know it all anyway. The thing that is most scary right now is phones.

Many or most accounts on Twitter are fake.
Almost all personal accounts on Facebook are real.
Facebook makes money.
Twitter does not make money.
See where this is heading...