Yesterday I received an e-mail from Google about the changes to their privacy policy. On the face of it, it seems reasonable that they would like to consolidate all their policies into one. The downside to this is that they also plan on sharing that information across their products which gives them a better picture of all your Internet activities. The question the, is what will they do with this information.

Having stated the above, some sites are very clear on their privacy policies.  For example, look at the Trollbeads privacy policy.  They state that they do not give out your information.  Given that this is a jewelry site, they would gain very little in giving it out.  The site’s goal is to sell jewelry.

Google on the other hand is interested in your information.  They make money based on it.

If you are concerned about privacy, there are two simple steps you can take to obscure the information that any website or search engine sees.

1. Use multiple user names or ID’s when you access a site.  This spreads your data across accounts which breaks any direct linkage to you.
2. Use an anonymous proxy that changes your IP address so that your accounts are not linked to your IP address.  Even better would be to use a shared proxy because many people will be using the same IP addresses thus rendering the information collected by the website useless.

Whether you are student studying abroad, or a business professional working on a project overseas, you will need to access the internet.  The problem is that not all websites are available in all countries.  Some may only be available in the United States.

Whenever you sign on to the internet, your IP address gives away your location.  If you are not in the United States, a website that you need to access may be blocked.  Whether you are signed up for a webinar, or need to do research, or if you just want to relax and watch your favorite TV show or a movie, if the site you need is blocked, it doesn’t help you much.   In order to “fool” these sites into opening, you must hide your IP address.

To hide your IP address, you must use a proxy server.  When you use a proxy server, the IP address used to locate you will be the address of the server.  This allows you to hide your true location, which opens up websites that would normally be blocked in the country you are in.

If you connect to a server in the US, then your US IP address will always show that you are in the United States.

You will be able to attend that online class in the United States while you are studying overseas.  You will also be able to watch movies and TV shows that would normally be blocked in some other countries.  There will be no limits on where you could go on the internet.

Want to try if for yourself?  Sign up for the risk-free trial and you will be hooked from the first time you use it.

There are some internet users who happily share their experiences with Anonymous Proxy once they discover its many benefits. Among its advantages, many say that faster speed ranks first. I can also tell of my own personal experience and how I better enjoyed my online surfing. I instantly solved my problem with speed in uploading my blogs by using an anonymous proxy.

It is good to know more advantages that can come from using an anonymous proxy, specifically to bypass filters. Aside from speed, it also blocks much of the spyware and junk that is sent to your computer. This saves you from the common problems that users come across. While this can be solved by using technical skill, it is very burdensome to encounter this problem repeatedly.

What would you do if you couldn’t go online every day?  You use the computer every day for your job, to connect with your friends and family, and to shop.  In spite of how necessary the Internet has become to our lives most people don’t realize that they are leaving their personal information unprotected.  Using a proxy server is an important way to ensure that your computer is secure.  You can keep your surfing history and laptop safe from those who really want to get that information.  But how do you pick the right proxy software?  Arm yourself with some basic information before you shop for this amazing tool.

Computer security is so much more than checking your laptop for viruses every week.  If that’s all you are doing then you have left yourself vulnerable.  The bad guys can install malware on your computer and track your every click as you surf the Internet.  If you do a lot of shopping and banking online then you are particularly vulnerable.  But it’s not just criminals that you need to be wary of.  A lot of marketing companies are competing to acquire and sell your information to advertisers.  You’ll stop them before they start by using a proxy server.

Using a public wireless Internet service is a fact of life when you travel for business.  But no matter how or where you connect to the Internet privacy and safety should be among your biggest concerns.  Connecting through a proxy server makes a lot of sense when using public WIFI networks.  And when you use your work laptop this kind of protection becomes vitally important.  You’ll be able to safely get your work done and protect your personal Internet activities too.

Chances are that you have had to access the Internet in public when trying to conduct business while traveling for your job. Whether you’re trying to work from a convention center, the airplane or a coffee shop you need to know that your computer is as safe as possible.  It is all too easy to expose your company’s servers to malevolent forces when connecting to the Internet in public.  One quick fix for this problem is to use a proxy server.  You can keep close tabs on your important accounts and clients, attend virtual meetings and work on your quarterly budget knowing that your computer is safe.  Taking that easy step before you leave the office will make a huge difference.

Sometimes you might have to go to a country that cracks down on their citizen’s Internet use and the sites people can visit.  You can easily get around those firewalls to stay connected to your family and the home office.   A proxy server is the perfect tool for situations just like this.  Visit whatever sites you want and get all your business done without worrying about who is watching your every click.  Keeping up with current events can be difficult in these countries since they tend to block news sites.  A proxy server allows you to keep up with the market, read industry journals and your hometown paper as well.

When traveling, you probably do more than just work-related business on your company laptop.  Using a proxy server helps keep your personal Internet history private.  You don’t need to change your surfing habits just because you aren’t at home.  You can update your social media sites, send and receive personal emails and manage your fantasy sports teams knowing that no one else knows what you’re up to.  You can keep your private life just that, private.

Using a proxy server is a common-sense move when using the company laptop while away on business.  So often you have to use public WIFI networks to access the Internet.   These are notoriously risky to use and your company’s servers are at risk every time you log on.  You can do all your work worry-free when you use a proxy server.  You can easily break through firewalls in countries that heavily censor Internet use.  Even better, you can hide your personal Internet history from your employer as well as the criminals out there trying to get at your private information.  Your personal surfing history remains safely hidden from everyone when you use a proxy server.

If you want to guard your Internet privacy you want to know what an IP address is.  It is a string of numbers assigned to you by your Internet Service Provider whenever you connect online.

There are certain questions that arise when thinking about an IP address”

Q. Can I be traced through my IP address?

A. Your IP address reveals only the locality and name of your ISP. Your Internet service provider by itself might have records of your PC using their system at such and such a time, but an Internet service provider will as a rule not reveal this information without a search warrant / court order.

Q. How long does an Internet service provider store logs of client IP addresses?

A. No one knows, although it can be somewhere from several weeks to a few years. This is necessary to monitor bandwidth usage.

Q. Someone over the internet has threatened they can find me due to my IP address. Can they do this?

A. Most likely they’re bluffing. Unless you administer your personal server or reside in the same building as your ISP’s headquarters, a stranger can’t locate you using only your IP address.

Q. Can someone find my username or password based mostly in my IP address?

A. No. Your ISP is the single one that is aware these details.

Q. Do my emails show my IP address?

A. Yes. To send email secretly, you’ll want to use an anonymous remailer or an anonymous proxy.

Q. What is a proxy server?

A. A 3rd party server used as a go-between by a customer PC that doesn’t want to attach directly to the world wide web.

Q. Can a proxy server give me internet privacy?

A. Not if it is merely a surrogate server. A simple proxy server will reveal to our online world that it’s acting as a substitute for such and such IP address user (your PC), so you can nonetheless be traced because of it.

Q. What kind of proxy server should I use to be able to surf secretly?

A. You want an anonymous proxy server that is secure, trustworthy and consistent. You will most likely have to pay a fee.

Q. How will an unidentified proxy server guard me?

A. Largely by hiding your actual IP address and blocking malicious scripts and computer programs from entering your system. You might get a different IP address every time you make use of the proxy. Additionally, a number of anonymous proxies allege they can’t reveal your data even if subpoenaed (court ordered) since they don’t save client logs.

Q. Are open proxy servers reliable to use?

A. Not if you are serious concerning your security and privacy. Numerous open proxies are either incorrectly set up, or owned by evil people who want to use your data for their personal ends. Beware of using free proxies and unidentified proxy servers that don’t allocate secure connections. And no matter what server you make use of, always encrypt personal data.

Recently we included static IP addresses to our Private Proxy application.  This is in addition to the randomly changing IP addresses that our private proxy already offered.

So why would we insert static IP addresses?  It would seem that randomly rotating IP addresses would include an extra layer of anonymity.  So why avail yourself of static IP addresses?  The solution is rather straightforward, however I will confess was not obvious to us when we initially planned the system.  The key reason to employ static IP addresses instead of randomly rotating ones is to include some level of consistency when going to the same website over and over again.  While usually you would think that you would not need to be recognized by your IP address, from time to time you do.

Think about your Web banking.  If you attempt to get into your web-based bank account from randomly changing IP addresses, it may appear to the bank that someone is trying to hack into your account.  Thus the requirement for static and regular IP addresses.

But this is not just about online banking.  It’s also about consistency used for any site where you want to keep a profile.  Even if you are trying to keep an unidentified profile, it still helps to be consistent.

None of this means that randomly changing IP addresses are a bad suggestion.  They nonetheless offer that added layer of secrecy.  Plus you should still use the rotating IP addresses when you are trying to stay unidentified when you are surfing the web.

I’d like to offer a “review” of sorts of my experience with Private Proxy – 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.

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.

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.