Safer Internet Browsing With One Change

[justaprogressive]

The internet is a dangerous place. There are websites that will happily deliver you malware, or display violent or sexual imagery after your child unsuspectingly clicks on a link. While there are lots of ways to protect yourself when browsing online, there’s one quick way to protect everyone who uses your home’s internet network at once, by using something called an alternative Domain Name System resolver.

Every time you tap a link or enter a URL into a browser, that link gets translated (or “resolved”) from the letters you typed in (e.g., Slate.com) to an IP address (e.g., 151.101.130.133). The phonebook of sorts that makes this happen is called the Domain Name System, or DNS. The DNS runs on servers all over the world, known as DNS resolvers. You probably use the DNS resolver run by your internet service provider, if you got the router from them and never changed the settings. (Imagine a guy at Verizon sitting in a room looking up the letters you typed and converting them to an IP address, and then sending you on your way—it’s like that, but a computer instead of a guy.)

The trouble with these default lookup systems is that, often, they are not very discerning: If your second grader types in Pornhub.com, that DNS resolver will go right ahead and resolve that to its IP address, and send your kid out into an area of the internet they shouldn’t yet know about. If you look up a site that will deliver malware to your computer, the DNS resolver may just be like: Yes, go right ahead.

The other thing is: Those internet service providers are seeing everything you look up. If you find this a little disturbing from a privacy perspective, you’re not alone! Comcast is one of the good guys in the space (I was surprised, too). They address DNS directly in their privacy policy, noting, “Comcast does not use Comcast DNS data for marketing, advertising, or sales purposes, and does not sell this data to third parties for any purpose.” Verizon, on the other hand, explicitly states that they do use your DNS lookups to “predict your interests, preferences and other insights we use in the program.” That “other insights” covers, uh, a lot of potential uses.

https://slate.com/technology/2024/12/internet-kids-privacy-use-an-alternate-dns-how-to.html

[stopdiggin]

1. please give us the 'one change'

that is going to make us 'safer'.
(appreciate that you included a good sized clip of article - many posts would benefit by doing so)
Alas, that clip doesn't get to any real 'meat' - as in recommendations or solutions.

[Igel]

3. A lot of OPs just grab 3 paragraphs and are done.

I agree.

The one thing (and I hope I'm not exceeding fair use):

Fortunately, you have options as to which middle man you have retrieving websites for you, and there are choices beyond just the internet big guys. By changing your DNS to another service, you can change who is in charge of your DNS lookups. You can use a free public DNS resolver that will automatically block known malicious domain names and that won’t be giving away information about your browsing.

There are lots of different DNS services that you can use that prioritize safe browsing and security (and like websites themselves, they all have their own IP addresses—even the phonebook guy has a phone number). Google runs one at 8.8.8.8, a company called Level 3 runs the nerdily infamous 4.2.2.2, and most ISPs (AT&T, Cox, etc.) have one. The one I recommend is called 1.1.1.1 and is offered by Cloudflare. Cloudflare not only built its free service with privacy in mind (they throw out the search logs every 24 hours), it also offers two additional options for blocking malware and adult content called DNS for Families.

Cloudflare’s installation guide is your best resource for how to update your home network to use Cloudflare 1.1.1.1. At its most basic level, you’ll update DNS settings on devices to remove two IP addresses and replace them with two new ones. If you just want to stop having your internet use logged, you’ll use 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1. If you also want to block malware, use 1.1.1.2 and 1.0.0.2. If you want to block malware and adult content, use 1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3.

[ItsjustMe]

2. All of my computers DNS settings are set to 1.1.1.1

https://one.one.one.one/dns/

[QED]

6. Have you had any issues?

I followed the link and walked through the directions which were easy. But I didn't click OK...I don't want to mess up my system and wanted to see if others are doing okay with this change.

[ItsjustMe]

7. I've been using these DNS settings for years.

I've never had any issues with them, and to my knowledge nobody has ever had any issues using these DNS settings. People that are interested in security and privacy use these settings.

[QED]

8. Thanks!

[bamagal62]

4. And for people like me

That are idiots about technology, how exactly do I do that?

[QED]

5. The link in post #2 gives directions

I walked through them and it was pretty easy. I didn't finish though...I want to be sure this works and I'm not messing up my system.

[bamagal62]

9. Thx!