Michael Bazzel has an episode on his podcast that discusses using a vanilla, unmodified browser like Firefox and a dedicated IP address (not shared) for certain websites that block vpns and modified browsers (e.g. banks)
Do you have a separate browser that you use with your home ip address?
I wonder if it is a good idea to use my real identity websites (including shoping) without a vpn and with only minimal modifications to Firefox for example?
When I’m logging into my online banking, I’m using a separate device and a VPN. This works fine for me. Don’t ask me why that is working, it works, and that is all I want.
In 90% of all online purchases, I buy the product online and pick it up locally in a store. For this I use the Tor Browser, because most shops that have this possibility don’t ask for more than my mail, phone number, and name. (which are never real)
When I don’t have the possibility to buy and get it in the store, then I use a modified browser with VPN, NoScript, and uBO. Which works every time completely fine.
I can no longer remember when i did use the last time a vanilla browser without vpn. Must have been before I got interested in privacy.
PS: If a site doesn’t work with VPN, uBO, or NoScript, then no, there are at most other similar sites. And as a last resort, there are these Webpage Archive Scrawlers. I never found a site that can block them effectively.
I use it all the time for school-related purposes.
At the end of the day, logging into an account tied to your personal identity doesn’t really make sense from an anonymity perspective. Might as well compartmentalize it if they do not allow VPN connections or modified browsers.
If the website does allow for VPN usage but the account is tied to your personal identity, there are still benefits from encrypting your website activity through a VPN. For example, when you are logging in from a public wifi network.
Public Wi-Fi wouldn’t affect you if the website you’re logging into uses https.
I really hope that every bank/school etc use https.
HTTPS helps with preventing credentials from being sent in the open. But whoever operates said public wifi can know what websites you visit.
A VPN connection prevents your ISP from knowing what websites you visit.
Yeah, true. I was just a bit weirded out by the mention of encrypting website activity with public Wi-Fi. Companies still heavily advertise it in 2025 in a misleading way in my opinion.