The stated purpose here is two-fold. First, the Obama administration wants  the government’s websites to be easier to navigate, and to become useful. Secondly, it wants to monitor your behavior on its websites to figure out what information was accessed the most and hence, potentially the most useful.

Privacy issues are crucial to the topic of government tracking and targeting, so much so that the government memorandum the Obama administration issued discusses it in the introduction. The government is assuring  people that they shouldn’t be concerned about the US government watching their every online move.

“Any such uses must not compromise or invade personal privacy,”states the document “It is important to provide clear, firm, and unambiguous protection against any uses that would compromise or invade personal privacy.

I’m sorry, but given how well the government does most things, do we really think they will get this right?  I’m not assuming ill intent or malice on anyone’s part.  I just assume that this is an area that we really don’t want them to get wrong.  If they do, and if the data is breached, this could be a privacy nightmare.

This is yet another reason why using an anonymous proxy is a good idea.  With a proxy, your identifying information, your IP address, is masked so that your specific information can’t be tracked.  However, even with an anonymous proxy, if you fill in information on a government website, they then know who you are.  An anonymous proxy can’t help you if you provide your personal data willingly.

Tweet This Post

The proxy marketplace is filled with lots of companies.  We have a number of quality competitors that I know and respect.

Unfortunately, the anonymous proxy world overall is a scary place.  Many of these proxy companies are out to take your money one way or another.  Remember that when you are connected to an anonymous proxy server, everything you do goes through that server.  Do you really feel comfortable putting your personal information through a server owned by a company that may not be legitimate?

Before you buy anything online, make sure that you know who you are doing business with.  That is especially true with proxy companies and even software companies.  If you install something on your PC, then you are granting that program access to all your information.  Again, maybe this is not a big deal, but I like to know the source of anything I install on my PC.

One way to learn more about a company is to read their privacy policy or terms of service.  Then you can look up the company to learn more about them.  If you can’t find company information, run, don’t walk away.

On a related note, we get a lot of phone calls from people before they sign up for our service.  I think this is mostly to reassure them that we are indeed a real company with real people who stand behind our products.  Think that’s silly?  Try calling some of the other proxy companies out there.

Stay safe by knowing who you are doing business with.

Tweet This Post

First of all, there are two types of anonymous proxies. The one that most people use is the web-based. This is because it is simple to find. All that is required is a search on the Google site for “anonymous proxy” and a vast amount of results will be shown. Choose one of the results and go to the site. An empty URL box will be shown and you need only type the web address of the place you want to visit. The anonymous proxy will then take you to this address without showing your IP address. When you leave the website there will not be cookies from the site on your computer nor a record of your having been there. The anonymous proxy acts as a combination protection and retrieval tool. It gets the website for you and keeps anyone from accessing your IP address. Your IP address can tell a thief exactly where you are located. How many people do you want to know your name?

The second type of anonymous proxy is a software proxy. This is somewhat like the web-based one however, soft-ware proxies work by downloading a program to your computer. Many of the software programs are set up so that when the traffic from your browser goes through the IP servers to be changed, they are put through a 128 bit SSL encryption. There are several IP addresses for each location and they are changed on a regular schedule. This gives your computer many different IP addresses to use as long as you are online. The only way you can access your anonymous proxy server is by putting in a password and a username. In addition, these proxy servers do not look anything like what they are so they are not blocked or censored. The URL is also masked so that it does not look like a proxy. In addition when using this software all the locations you will be sent to are only accessed by others like you who are using a proxy server.

It is a very simple process. All you have to do is download the software for the anonymous proxy server. The software you are using will have an icon on your desktop. Open the program from here and put in your user name and your password. The next thing will be to choose the location from the ones available that you wish to connect to and hit enter. Your computer will be connected to the server you chose. The browser you use can be opened and your IP address miraculously is changed to one from the software program. Eliminating your IP address from showing on whatever site you choose to visit as well as keeping this site or any other from leaving tracking cookies on your computer is a terrific move. The electronic trail that is left by your computer every time you go online no longer leads back to your computer. It goes to the server company that has the program you are using. This type of anonymous proxy has more servers to handle the traffic they are getting so it is faster than the ones you can choose free from the Internet. In addition, you are not inundated with the advertisements often put on free proxy servers.

The whole process makes a much more safe and secure way of doing anything online. Instead of them being able to have full access to all your pertinent information, the IP address is routed through anonymous proxy servers. This eliminates the chance of a hacker gaining control of your information while you are online. Using a wireless router or a laptop on a hotspot allows everything you are doing to be seen by those who are just waiting for an unsuspecting surfer to come along. Did you know that your ISP even has a log of everything you do on the Internet? The law says they have to keep a record of the sites you visit. Do you think this is anyone’s business besides yours? The best way to make sure no one knows what you are doing while you are online is to make use of the anonymous proxy software that encrypts your communication and keeps them private. Every time you are online, companies can build profiles on you just by what you do. Where you go and what sites you visit are all used to build these profiles. When an unscrupulous individual is trying to see where you are surfing and anonymous proxy servers are used, the data is unreadable because it is encrypted. Your information is safe and the person with thoughts of stealing your information moves on to find someone else.

Tweet This Post

Use an anonymous proxy to stay safe overseas.

So what would a soldier want to access on the web. Believe it or not, one of the things they do is watch TV online. They can catch their favorite programs or watch hockey. Most of the TV networks put their some of their latest episodes online. For others, they can access media sites that aggregate content. Another source for media is the online newspapers like the New York Times. Or maybe they want to read their home town newspaper online. Today most, if not all papers, have an online version. So between TV, sports, and newspapers, they can catch up on the latest US media and news.

Instead of TV, they might be on social networking sites like FaceBook or MySpace. For those who have not served in the military, you can’t imagine how much of a gift these sites are to lonely young men and women far from home. With a click of the mouse, they can see friends and loved ones. They can catch up on the latest happenings in their families or circle of friends. They can see videos, pictures and general updates. And maybe, just maybe, some of the loneliness might go away. Sure, they are still at the front. Sure they are still in harm’s way. But they have a connection back to their normal every day lives. Unfortunately, they can’t always connect back to these US sites. You’d think the web is available everywhere.

The purpose of companies streaming their television shows onto the internet is so that people will see them, and eventually decide to buy them on DVD. People outside the country however will not be able to buy these because they are simply unavailable. Companies decided that they were actually losing money because such people couldn’t get a hold of their products! They didn’t seem to consider all of the people IN the United States that were buying. After all, what could it hurt if a few foreigners watched an episode of The Office, or even Stargate Universe? Well you wouldn’t think that it could hurt at all, but the production companies didn’t quite see it that way. For this reason they started to block IP addresses outside of the United States. The same went for several social networking websites because they suffered from the same advertisement problem. This however did not stop the military personnel from viewing their favorite websites. They instead turned to proxies.

For those who don’t know, a proxy is a server that one can connect to. This server will then connect you to the internet via it’s own connection. What does this accomplish? It provides you with a new IP address which is based in the United States. You are not visiting websites via your own connection, but instead you are using the ISP that the proxy subscribes to. What you’re dealing with there is surfing the internet using a computer across the ocean. The moral aspect is up to you, but if you get a proxy with decent encryption, the ISP you use overseas will never know the difference. This is also a great way to protect your privacy. By using a proxy you will be able to hide your identity while catching up on your favorite shows. The one thing you don’t want to do in a war zone is broadcast who you are and what you are doing. With that in mind, start shopping for a good proxy today. Once you arrange a good one, you will be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy your favorite shows.

Tweet This Post

While the idea of being watched sounds bad, it really is not. It depends clearly on the type. When you are being watched for your own safety, as these video cameras are doing for the citizens, sometimes it is necessary to make some privacy sacrifices to ensure your protection. The only question that arises is what exactly is “anti-social behavior”? If this anti-social behavior means a man waiting outside someone’s house looking to see if anyone is home, and then trying to break the door down or open a window, then it goes without saying that we would all be okay with these cameras. Sometimes these cameras can snoop into places we don’t want them too, and they then abandon their public service. This is the bad kind of being watched, a voyeuristic viewing of your life and its details. It doesn’t have to be the actual watching of your person though or what you are doing; this illegal type of surveillance expands into the extension of your self, except online: your social security number, your documents, your emails, etc.

This kind of surveillance is obviously the aforementioned bad kind. It usually has one defining characteristic; it is done through technology. Somebody snoops on you using some high tech device, breaking through the meager defenses you have on your (it is oftentimes) computer. You always have to be wary of your computer; it can be a great addition to your life and make many things easier with the power of the Internet, but it can be dangerous as well. Most computer are not secured and protected properly, and surf the web “without their seat belts on”, if you will.

Don’t fret; getting a secure Internet is easy. Anonymous proxy is what you need to look for, and once you find a good one, look no further. An anonymous proxy can enable you to surf the web anonymously and keep you hidden from the prying eyes of those wishing to commit this “anti-social behavior.” Find a reliable private proxy and stick with it, and you will be perfectly secure on the Internet.

Tweet This Post

This situation happened recently with a couple of high school football players. When they joined the team, they signed a contract with their coach saying that they would always abstain from drugs and alcohol and that they would maintain a good image, for their image reflected the entire football team’s. About halfway into the season, after a major and crushing victory, the team in question had a party to celebrate. The football players who had previously signed the contract started drinking, and actually ended up getting pulled over for underage drinking and driving under the influence. The coach immediately, even though they were the star players, cut them from the team. Ever since, many jokes and puns have been made about the team and their partying habits; they could never be taken seriously again.

While these players directly violated a contract they had forged with their coach who had trusted them, often times the circumstances have some mitigating factors that are rarely considered. Whether or not this is the case is not important, it is the principle of the matter. While these guys did something wrong, many people are illegally “searched” via their computers every day for information.

While the Patriot Act is something started by the government, spy ware is not. These programs are used by hackers who are trying to break into your system for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they want to find out what you do in your spare time, try and steal personal information from you, or try and find something to incriminate you with. Don’t let these hackers hurt your reputation unjustifiably; use an anonymous proxy server and browse anonymously to prevent being hacked and stolen from. These criminals are skilled and it will take more than average defenses to keep them out, but an anonymous proxy server will do the job and then some.

Tweet This Post

The premise is simple; give people ads that they might actually consider. Imagine a dainty young woman into flowers, teacups, and all things cute and cuddly. If while on a beauty website, she encounters an ad for a protein shake that is guaranteed to put on fifteen percent more muscle in one week, she probably isn’t going to even think about clicking it. On the other end of the spectrum, if a muscle-bound college kid is managing his fantasy football team, and an ad for a miracle garden solution pops up, he probably won’t think twice before exiting it out.

These may be a bit extreme, but everyone has had something like this occur. One can see two sides of the coin to this new behavioral advertising; one is good and puts ads that you may actually consider on your screen, and another is bad and completely invades your privacy without permission.

While these invasive ads may seem to violate privacy laws, they actually don’t. The ISPs will allow them to do so on their customers because the ads will pay them a percentage of their profits. This still doesn’t quell the public’s concerns… someone is getting into their personal and private browsing history and compromising their anonymous browsing experience online. Although the people are outraged and concerned, there truly is little they can do.

Well, little they can do in the form of laws and regulations anyway. If you want to avoid these advertisers and their hands-on tactics, try using an anonymous proxy server. When you download your private proxy for just a few dollars a month, you will quickly see it was money well spent.

This useful piece of software actually changes your IP address, which will thwart any possible hackers or trackers, as your IP address is the key to any data you have on your computer. The best anonymous proxy servers will actually have an encryption service built right in, which can encode all of your Internet traffic so it looks like hieroglyphics to any snoopers.

This serves two purposes; first, it protects you from hackers and other criminal scum, and secondly, it scrambles all of your data so the behavioral advertisers can’t read any of it. If they can’t read it, they can’t try and forcefully solicit their products to you. An anonymous proxy is the perfect remedy for a situation that will plague the public for quite a while before somebody finally does something about it. Don’t let your ISP give away your information for a profit, secure your browsing with an anonymous proxy now and never let anyone in on your documents again.

Tweet This Post