I’d like to offer a “review” of sorts of my experience with PrivateProxy – a software services company that provides anonymous server proxy protection.  First a bit of background.  I’m what you might call a “retail” user of the internet – I don’t have a web site of my own, I don’t try to create traffic on someone else’s website by “hitting” it many times, etc., my wife and I simply “use” the internet for email, surfing, banking, communication with family through Facebook, Google, etc.  We have 4 computers in the house (they accumulate over time like dust bunnies) and we both use the internet often through the day and often at the same time.

Over the past month or so there have been a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal, that frankly, scared the bejeezus out of us.  We knew that surfing the internet exposes us to identity theft and that third parties of all kinds can, do, and are probably in some cases legally required (like our ISP) to monitor all our online activities.  Now we believe our internet use is a private matter (doesn’t everyone?).  And we don’t feel that by tracking our internet preferences third parties can “better” market us through more targeted advertising to create a “better” internet experience for us.  Call us old fashioned but we would rather make those choices for ourselves – privately.  The WSJ articles made clear that ANY internet usage by an individual can both expose that user to invasions of privacy and outright dangerous – like going to a gun fight with only a knife.  All this got us thinking about ways to protect ourselves.

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What ever you do online can be tracked.  Even if you are careful, there are still traces that lead back to you.  It does not have to be this way.  You can take control of your privacy.  This graphic shows the dangers of breached privacy on the Internet.

Infographic byWordStream Internet Marketing

Take Control of Your Internet Privacy

Here are  3 simple steps to control your privacy on the Internet:

1. Never post personal information on the Internet.  Once information is on the web, it can be copied and shared without your permission.  Once posted, you’ve lost control over where it can appear.  What may seem harmless can lead to the wrong people having your information.
2. Use an anonymous proxy to hide your IP address.  Your IP address is one identifier that can lead back to you.  By hiding it you can throw would be stalkers off your trail.
3. Clear your cookies.  While normally cookies are not harmful, they do provide information back to websites you visit about your habits on their website.  This may or may not be something you care about.  It depends on the websites you visit.

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Anonymous proxy, what is it? Why would someone need to be anonymous on the Internet? What is anonymous surfing? These are all reasonable questions.

Anonymous Proxy usage is on the rise. This is because an anonymous proxy can help you bypass Internet restrictions or Internet censorship. An anonymous proxy is an Internet server that you connect to and that appears to be your ISP’s Internet server to any site that you visit. The websites that you visit when connected to an anonymous proxy see the proxies IP address and not the IP address of your ISP, or employer. This helps bypass restrictions based on IP address. If your IP address is banned or blocked, then by using the IP address of the anonymous proxy, you are bypassing the ban.

Anonymous surfing is slightly different. In addition to hiding your IP address, anonymous surfing is the process of being invisible on the web. With an anonymous proxy that encrypts your website traffic, you make virtually impossible for someone to monitor your Internet surfing. All they will see is the encrypted traffic which is almost impossible to decipher.

When you surf anonymously by using encryption, then the data that you send not only can’t be read, its hard to block. Let’s say that you are in mainland China and researching democracy. By encrypting your searches, the Chinese government won’t know what you are looking for. This bypasses the block on those searches. Let’s also assume that the New York Times website is blocked by the Chinese. Again, the URL that you enter into your browser is encrypted so it cannot be monitored. This also means it can’t be blocked.

Anonymous Proxy and Anonymous Surfing are keys to being safe on the Internet. Safe from hackers and thieves. And safe from repressive governments.

For most of us, we don’t worry about being anonymous because we don’t live in a repressed society. However, governments aren’t the only ones watching you. Hackers and thieves are watching you too. Using an anonymous proxy can also protect you from would be thieves.

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With all the advantages the Internet has brought comes a new kind of crime. Internet crime is at an all time high. Thieves have learned that this is an easier way of robbing their victims than ever before. All they have to do is gain access to a person’s connection to the Internet and it is possible to take their identity or their money. This is being committed even as you are reading this article. Accessing someone’s bank account, credit cards and other personal information through the World Wide Web is the way a thief can get by with his crime with the least likelihood of getting caught. Gone are the days when going on the Internet was not threatened by the possibility of malware and spy ware. When a thief gains access to your Internet connection, all the information you are sending on that connection is out in the open for the taking. Bank account numbers, credit card numbers – all manner of personal information – is no longer safe. How do you take steps to keep this from happening? One of the best ways is to have an anonymous proxy server. This is one solution to keep thieves from gaining knowledge about your connection to the Internet and in turn keeping your information safe.

What is an anonymous proxy, you may be asking? 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 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 where you are located. How many people do you want to know your name?

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Lately I’ve come across a number of websites that are promoting anonymous proxies.  These sites are filled with nonsensical articles and are designed to drive traffic to one or two anonymous proxy websites.  I guess I have to ask the question, if they are creating garbage websites just for the purpose of spamming the search engines, how good can their products be.

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.

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Creative criminals: with its nice alliterative ring, it sounds like a harmonious title of a reality show. Or perhaps some blooper reel where the “creative” is in a less reverent sense. This is nothing to do with television though, but rather another medium: technology. The human race had its humble roots with a barbaric caveman who first struck fire and was maddened and frightened by its implications, although he probably did not know what “implications” were. Soon enough though, or really through millions of years of natural selection, we found ourselves in the year 1950. At this point technology is just making its strong debut, with the radio and the television dominating the airwaves and creating sparks in the minds of the greats who will bring us even more advanced technology later.

Anonymous Proxy to avoid identity theft

Although we did not know it the abstract concept of a grassroots link between users would be manifested to the tangible, yet paradoxically intangible, Internet. This system allowed people to set up their own sites via the WWW service, and brought about many great things. Unfortunately, it is through the Internet that we find ourselves the victims of some of the most creative criminals.

The creation of MySpace, FaceBook, and other social networking sites where people can communicate to one another through personalized profiles and comment, blog, and rate each others own pictures brought about a social revolution. People became addicted to these sites, and soon enough criminals began to notice and try and exploit the general public’s naivete regarding Internet safety. Through the wonderful power of deceit the Internet provides, these ingenious crooks posed as friends of some people, and lured them into the real world to steal, abduct, etc. The more sophisticated criminals even earned themselves a special title of reverence: a hacker. These hackers manipulated computer infrastructure and security systems to go right into people’s documents or bank accounts and take whatever they want.

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For many people, their Internet service is something that happens as though by magic, but if you are curious about learning more about how your computer gets online and communicates with other machines, you are going to find that you need to think about your IP address. The term IP address is one that comes up with regular frequency when you are thinking about computers and networking and even if you know where to find it, you might not be able to explain what it means or what it does. When you are thinking about learning more about networking and when you want some simple answers as to what an IP address is and what it does, there are some things that you need to keep in mind.

In the first place, remember that the term itself is short for “Internet Protocol.” This is a label that has been applied to allow you to connect to a wider network, and if you are on the Internet, you are using an IP address to get there. Remember, though, that you are looking at something that has several functions. For instance, websites have IP addresses too; from your computer’s point of view, they are both a pathway as well as a location. When you are thinking about the way your computer interacts on the network, remember that it should act as your passport. If you are not getting an IP address, you are not going to be getting online at all. Your IP address is something that is granted to you by your Internet service provider, or your ISP. In many cases, you will be able to simply plug your computer into the wall or into your cable modem, depending on what your service consists of, and you will be able to get online right away. In many cases, you will first need to deal with authenticating yourself to your ISP, and you need to verify that you have service with them, but it usually takes very little time at all. With a greater interest in convenience and speed, there are companies which are deliberately working for plug and play Internet, where you can plug your computer in and simply start surfing as you please. This can make a huge difference to the way that you connect.

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With all the advantages the Internet has brought comes a new kind of crime. Identity theft is at an all time high. Thieves have learned that this is an easier way of robbing their victims than ever before. All they have to do is gain access to a person’s connection to the Internet and it is possible to take their identity and their money. This is being committed even as you are reading this article. Accessing someone’s bank account, credit cards and other personal information through the world wide web is the way a thief can get by with his crime with the least likelihood of getting caught. Gone are the days when going on the Internet was not threatened by the possibility of malware and spy ware. When a thief gains access to your Internet connection, all the information you have used on that connection is out in the open for the taking. Bank account numbers, credit card numbers – all manner of personal information – is no longer safe. How do you take steps to keep this from happening? One of the best ways is to have an anonymous proxy server. This is one solution to keep thieves from gaining knowledge about your connection to the Internet and in turn keeping your information safe.What is an anonymous proxy, you may be asking?

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?

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The men and women of the United States Armed Forces are overseas right now fighting for your freedom. They made this choice on their own yes, but it is a choice they made because they love the idea of freedom, and because they want to better themselves and their country. Remember it is not a choice that is made lightly by any means. It is something that they considered, and probably for several months. In the end they decided that fighting for freedom and making a stand was worth more than anything-even their own lives. That being the case they signed the papers, they boarded a plane, and now they sit thousands of miles away from home. Fortunately there have been some innovations that have provided soldiers with more entertainment than they would have had access to in the past. These innovations are centered around the internet.

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.

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The Internet was originally created with one goal in mind; exchange information. This purpose has completely been manifested today, as we have so many avenues with which to share information. One person might get a funny email, and wishing to show it to all of his friends rather than poorly act it out and ruin the humor, can simply forward the document to everyone in his or her address book online. Many media sites like Youtube are completely based around this sharing principle. The videos you put on there can be seen by anyone, and whether your dance was really good or just completely awful, all one has to do is hit a button and the video is being sent to everyone on their email list. While these are all legal and easy ways to share content while online, many people have invented more insidious means to violate user contracts and copyrighting laws. If you search a popular music video on YouTube, you will probably find some random user who has uploaded it, which is in direct violation of YouTube’s user contract, and will probably be taken down quickly. People also can put songs up on the Internet for others to listen to and download; which is also illegal. There is a new kind of sharing though, called P2P (or Peer-to-Peer) that has law makers scratching their heads.

While uploading a copyrighted video is obviously a direct violation of the artist’s rights, is sharing one with a friend? If you buy a CD and your friend wants to hear it as well, should they have to pay to listen to your copy? The answer to this is for most people a resounding no. Then why are these P2P networks being so scrutinized? The problem is, they create digital copies of the songs, which can them be dispersed online for free, and completely ripping off the artist. This is the problem, but shutting down these good natured P2P networks is not in the cards right now.

What needs to be discussed though is the danger these networks provide, and not just for the artist’s bank accounts. Since anyone can upload anything to these networks, there can be some shady activity going on. While YouTube is the principles, this conduit of media has active virus scans and would not allow that to happen anyway, a feature that maybe one percent of all P2P networks enjoy. This means that somebody could have titled something to read as what it really isn’t and could have laced a tracking or crashing virus onto the file to hook onto your computer.

P2P networks can be a godsend if used correctly, but beware of their risks. You can enjoy using them if you just adequately protect yourself when surfing one. An anonymous proxy can stop trackers from latching onto your connection by changing your IP address, which is the system most use to follow someone online. With your new IP address, no one will be able to stalk you online.

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