Anonymizing your Linux computer

This page provides steps to make your Linux Mint/Ubuntu/Debian based distros more anonymous on the Internet. This should work with most distros running systemd.
Use at your own risk. There is no warranty expressed or implied.

Randomize MAC Address at Boot

Steps to randomize your network

  1. Open a terminal window and run ip addr to find the MAC address of your network adapters. You might have more then one network adapter.
  2. Create the file /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link If the file already exists then increment the number.
  3. Enter the following code in the file but use your MAC address from the first step:
            [Match]
        MACAddress=00:00:00:00:00:00
    
        [Link]
        MACAddressPolicy=random
        NamePolicy=database kernel onboard slot path
  4. Repeat these steps for each network adapter.

Randomize Host Name at Boot

Steps to randomize your host name using a word from the dictionary file and a number.

  1. Create the file /usr/bin/hostchanger.sh
  2. Enter the following code in the file:
              #!/bin/bash

          # Set this to a valid dictionary installed
          FILE=/usr/share/dict/words
          
          # Get current hostname
          OLDHOST=$(hostname)
          
          # get random word from dictionary if exists or just 8 random characters 
          if [ -f $FILE ]; then
            WORD=$(sort -R $FILE | head -1 | tr -d "'" )
          else
            WORD=$(date +%s | sha256sum | base64 | head -c 8)
          fi
          
          # upper case the word 
          WORD="${WORD^^}"
          
          # get a number based on current seconds 00-59
          NUM=$(date +%S)
          
          # combine the word and number to get the new hostname
          NEWHOST="$WORD$NUM"
          
          # change hostname
          echo $NEWHOST > /etc/hostname
          hostname $NEWHOST
  3. Make the script executable by running chmod +x /usr/bin/hostchanger.sh
  4. Create the file /etc/systemd/system/hostchanger.service
  5. Enter the following code in the file:
              [Unit]
          Description=Host Changer
          Before=network.service
      
          [Service]
          ExecStart=/usr/bin/hostchanger.sh
          Type=oneshot
      
          [Install]
          WantedBy=multi-user.target
  6. Enable the service by running systemctl enable /etc/systemd/system/hostchanger.service

Use Random DNS Servers

Set your DNS servers to a random public DNS server.

  1. Open the file /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf for editing
  2. Under the [main] section add: 
              dns=none
  3. Use the links Tech Radar, Lifewire and Public-Dns.info to find the DNS servers you want to use
  4. Open or create the file /etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/head for editing
  5. Enter the following text in the file but use nameservers you selected above:
              #use round robin dns server
          options rotate
          #opendns
          nameserver 208.67.222.222
          nameserver 208.67.220.220
          #cloudfare
          nameserver 1.1.1.1
          nameserver 1.0.0.1
          #Quad9
          nameserver 9.9.9.9
          nameserver 149.112.112.112
          #Verisign
          nameserver 64.6.64.6
          nameserver 64.6.65.6
          #Cleanbrowsing
          nameserver 185.228.168.9
          nameserver 185.228.169.9
          #Alternate
          nameserver 198.101.242.72
          nameserver 23.253.163.53
          #AdGuard
          nameserver 176.103.130.130
          nameserver 176.103.130.131

Use Firefox Browser & DuckDuckGo

Use the Firefox web browser and DuckDuckGo search engine

Firefox Browser Add-ons

Install the following Firefox browser add-ons

Privacy Tools

Various privacy tools. Find private, secure VPN and EMAIL providers

Secure Cloud Storage

Client side encrypted cloud storage providers