What Your ISP Can See, and Where Datante Helps

Your ISP is your internet service provider: the company you pay for internet access. It carries the connections between your home and the internet. That gives it some clues about what happens online.

Datante helps you reduce selected tracking connections from devices using your Datante settings. That includes compatible TVs and smart devices, not just the computer you use to browse. It does not hide everything from your internet company.

What can your internet company see?

It can usually see when you connect, how much data you send, and the network addresses you connect to.

An IP address is a network address used to reach a device or service. Some use numbers; others use numbers and letters. Several websites can share one address, so it does not always name the exact site.

Your provider may also see the website names your devices look up, if those lookups are not protected.

HTTPS is the secure type of website connection. It scrambles the pages and details sent during a connection. Your internet company cannot normally read those contents just by carrying them. It can still see other clues, such as timing and network addresses.

Sometimes a connection shares the website's name as it starts. A feature called Encrypted Client Hello can hide that name when both the browser and website support it. It does not hide the network address or timing. Cloudflare explains how this works.

Providers may also hold details from your account or other services. The Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. agency that helps protect consumers, studied six major providers in 2021. It found wide collection and sharing of personal data. That older report does not prove what your provider does with your account today.

What is DNS, and why change it?

DNS stands for Domain Name System. It helps a device find the network address for a name, such as example.com. Asking for that address is called a DNS lookup. A domain is the name the device is looking up.

A DNS resolver is the service that answers that question.

Changing DNS sends those questions to a different service. But your internet company may still see them on the way if they are not scrambled. The service answering them can also see the questions it handles.

Encrypted DNS scrambles those questions while they travel. It does not scramble every connection your device makes. It also does not remove account records or stop a website collecting what you give it.

Datante filtering and encrypted DNS do different jobs. Filtering can stop selected lookups. Encryption protects information while it travels. Do not assume a router DNS change does both.

How is a VPN different?

VPN means virtual private network. It sends covered connections through a protected link to a VPN service.

A properly set up VPN can hide the destinations inside that link from your internet company. Your provider can still see that you connect to the VPN, when you connect, and how much data travels. You also need to trust the VPN company.

A VPN on your laptop does not automatically cover your TV. A VPN set up on your router may cover other devices. Your router is the box that connects your home devices to the internet.

Some VPNs also offer blocking tools. That is a separate feature. A faster VPN is not proof of better blocking. An audit is a check of particular claims at a particular time.

DNS filtering also does not stop lawful investigations or hide location records held by your mobile carrier.

How does Datante help?

A TV might try to connect to a tracking service in the background. If it asks Datante for that service's address, and an enabled rule covers the name, Datante can stop the usual lookup. That may stop a connection that needs the answer.

Set up through your router, this can help devices that cannot use a browser ad blocker. Datante's reports let you review household lookups and block decisions.

It cannot take back information already sent. A blocked lookup also does not tell you exactly what data would have been shared.

What should you do first?

1. Check your internet provider's privacy and advertising settings.
2. Follow Datante's setup guide. Check whether your router uses encrypted DNS.
3. If you use a VPN, check which devices and DNS service it uses.
4. Review Datante's household activity. A successful browser check tests that browser's lookup, not every device in the house.

Frequently asked questions

Will Datante hide every website from my internet company?

No. It filters selected lookups. Other details about your connections can still be visible.

Can I use Datante with a VPN?

Sometimes. A VPN may use its own DNS and skip Datante. Check the setup before assuming both tools are working together.

Does a blocked name prove someone was spying on me?

No. It shows that a rule blocked a lookup. It does not prove who used the device or why the connection was made.

Reduce unwanted tracking across your home

Compare Datante's protection levels if you want filtering beyond one browser. Start with the setup guide, and read the Privacy Policy.

Datante can reduce selected tracking connections across devices using its settings. Keep the other tools you need for privacy problems that DNS filtering cannot fix.