When you use the Internet for things like news, email, social media, and even Monero, you are most likely using a clearnet connection. This means that *all* of your connections can be tracked, traced, and monitored by:
- your [ISP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISP)
- the website/service/person you're communicating with
- possibly a [Five Eyes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Eyes) capable entity
and even if you use [HTTPS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTPS) or similar (which *encrypts* your transmission), your route is not hidden nor is it anonymous, thus; it is in the *clear*.
### In-depth information
Since a traditional [VPN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPN) cannot save you from clearnet (as you are still using *clearnet* (though you are more proxied than without a VPN)), you should use an *anonymous overlay network* to avoid using clearnet directly:
-@Kovri
-@Java-I2P
- [Tor](https://torproject.org/)
These technologies protect you from clearnet by building an anonymous network **over** clearnet to keep your transmissions both encrypted **and** anonymous.
Here is an accurate, [interactive diagram](https://www.eff.org/pages/tor-and-https) provided by the [EFF](https://www.eff.org/) which describes *clearnet* as it relates to **Tor**. The concept also (somewhat) applies to @Kovri and I2P in terms of anonymity with the exception that:
