Surfing the Web Anonymously – Questions to Ask
By Online Security Authority on May 9, 2009 in Privacy
When you surf the web it is possible to learn information about you even when you don’t want to advertise who you are. This is true even if your system contains no virus or malware software. Specifically information that is easily available online includes your IP address, your country (and often more location information based on IP address), what computer system you are on, what browser you use, your browser history, and other information. It gets worse. People can get your computer’s name and even find out your name if your machine supports programs like finger or identd. Also, cookies can track your habits as you move from machine to machine.
photo credit: Unhindered by Talent
How do people get this basic information about you?
When you visit another web site, information about you can be retrieved. Basically, information is intercepted and used by others to track your Internet activities.
How do you stop this from happening?
First of all, it is possible to serf the web anonymously and thereby stop leaving a trail for others to find. Note that this is not fool-proof, but it makes it much harder for people to know who you are. There are products called anonymous proxy servers that help protect you. The anonymous proxy server replaces your Internet address for its own. This has the effect of hiding your IP address and making it much harder for people to track you. Managed PC Care…
How do I get an anonymous proxy server?
There are many vendors who sell anonymous proxy servers. There are also free proxy servers available to you. Two such products are ShadowSurf and Guardster. Guardster (http://www.guardster.com/) offers various services for anonymous and secure access to the web, some paid as well as a free service. ShadowSurf (http://www.shadowsurf.com/) ShadowSurf provides anonymous surfing at their site for free. Go to it and you will find a box to enter a URL that you want no one to track. There are many others, but here are two that are frequently used.
Another interesting product, given the recent news about the Google search engine filtering its findings for the Chinese government, is Anonymizer (http://www.anonymizer.com). This company, among others, recently (Feb 1st, 2006) pressed that it “is developing a new anti-censorship solution that will enable Chinese citizens to safely access the entire Internet filter-free” (Press Release).
Does an anonymous proxy server make you 100% safe?
No. Still, you are much better off if you use such technology.
What other things should I be concerned about when trying to keep my private information private?
Three other items come to mind when trying to keep your information private. First, you can use an encrypted connection to hide your surfing. This article does not go into detail on this, but search the web and you will find a lot of information on this. Secondly, delete cookies after each session. Third, you can configure your browser to remove JavaScript, Java, and active content. This actually leads to limitations, so you need to think about the cost/benefit of this course of action.
Anything else?
Wishing you happy and safe surfing!
Other Posts From Around The Web:
| Surf the Web anonymously – The Internet can be a scary place, with all kinds of bad guys, and even good guys, trying to spy on what information you’re sending through the tubes. Even if you have nothing to hide, maybe the thought of folks snooping on you makes …
Video: How to Browse Websites Anonymously – In this video, Tom Merrit from CNET discusses some free tools to help you surf the web anonymously without letting the destination website know who you are. This may even help you watch web videos that are restricted in your country … A BPN Proxy – Unblock MySpace, Bypass Filters, Anonymous Browsing – Use BPN online web proxies to bypass firewall filters at school, college(school proxy), work or wherever you need and enjoy all of the benifits of anonymous browsing. BPN Anonymous Web Proxies allow you to surf under our server IP … |
Written by: OSAblogger / Bill Wardell - Please Read Our Latest OSA eZine Edition
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2 Comment(s)
By Dartz on May 20, 2008 | Reply
Being on dial-up still, I have a dynamic IP that ranges fairly widely. But I’m still quite anonymous on the internet, according to the info I give out to sign up for a webpage, I live in Nevada, born in august 1988, and have the initials RD.
In other words, like 5 people know my real details.
I find a fake identity to be enough anonymity on the internet.
By Online Security on Jun 17, 2008 | Reply
I think its impossible to keep your imformation private. If someone wants it they will find a way to get it
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