Lichess is safe, because it is free of ads and trackers.

But browsing the rest of the Internet exposes us to the following threats:

• Advertisement sells our screen estate and influences us
• Tracking sells our personal information to increase advertisement effectiveness

These don't benefit us, the website users, in any way. In fact, they use a lot of our computing power and bandwidth against us.

Fortunately, there are simple and legal ways to protect ourselves from these invasions.

Protect your computer

uBlock Origin

Hands-down the best ad-blocking browser extension. It's free software (GPLv3), blazing fast, and will effectively block most malware. We heartily recommend that everyone installs it. uBlock is available for most browsers on Windows, MacOS and Linux. Install it now!

Note that other browser extensions, such as the popular "AdBlock", are unsafe: they have accepted money to expose you to some ads. Don't fall for it, just use uBlock Origin instead.

AdGuard

This is a DNS server that can block ads and trackers throughout the whole system. This includes video ads and ads in your favorite apps, browsers and games. It can be used as a replacement or, better, a complement of uBlock Origin.

It's very easy to set up, check out the instructions on the AdGuard website on how to do this.

Alternative: Mullvad

Mullvad is similar to AdGuard, and has been audited by the security experts. Here's how to use it.

Custom hosts file (advanced)

An alternative to AdGuard for system-wide blocking is to directly manage your hosts file. Here's a list of dangerous hosts to block, with links to raw hosts files available. To modify your current hosts file, look for it in the following places and modify it with a text editor.

Where to find your hosts file:

• mac OS (until 10.14.x macOS Mojave), iOS, Android, Linux: /etc/hosts
• macOS Catalina (10.15+): /private/etc/hosts
• Windows: %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Protect your Android device

personalDNSfilter

This is a DNS proxy for Android. Your device will be unable to connect to anything that will send you ads or track what you do. You can download and install personalDNSfilter from F-Droid, the Google Play Store or directly download the package.

Protect your iPhone or iPad

BlockBear

Blocks ads and trackers directly, but only within the Safari browser.

About blocking ads

It's important to note that blocking ads is NOT theft. Don't fall for this creepy idea, which is the criminalisation of the inalienable right to privacy.

Ads and trackers violate our privacy, make websites much slower, and deliver dangerous malware. We say no to them.

We have the right to decide what we download from the Internet, what we send to it, and what we display on our screen.

We have the right to refuse downloading source code that works against us. It's our bandwidth and computer, and no-one can decide for us what to use them for.

A service that has valuable features should be able to sell us a subscription, without blackmailing us with ominous ads.