Surfing Proxies Help Anonymity

When you talk about anonymous surfing, proxies or anything that obscures your IP address – people tend to think you’re up to no good. My wife looks at me suspiciously, my friends wonder what I’m up to and I dread to think what my parents would think if I attempted to explain the concept of IP cloaking.

Now I know there are always going to be people who seek to obscure their identity for nefarious schemes and motives but there’s millions of other people who just want some privacy, some safety or simply are not overly happy with their Governments want to record their every move online (on the off chance that you might be up to no good)

Almost all anonymous surfing relies in some way on the ubiquitous proxy servers. However there is sometimes a real perception that a proxy server means you are anonymous and can surf in privacy, which is far from the truth.

For illustration let me just make this point, if you are lucky enough to have internet access at work or school then your surfing will almost certainly be directed through a proxy server.

Why does my employer direct me through a proxy server?

The reason is simple, it’s because he can then log everything you do, intercept, monitor and control. If Joe Smith in supplies spends his time surfing dating sites on company time, he’d better hope that his boss doesn’t check the logs on the proxy server as it will all be listed there.

And that’s the problem a proxy server may obscure your identity to some extent but unless the logs are deleted instantly, then it also is a complete list of everything you do online. Professional solutions that run these proxies and can allocate a random UK ip address for example know this – and if they are worth using then they delete the logs instantly. If they don’t just remember the risks.

Anyway the reason for this post is not about negativity, anonymous surfing has real positive uses.

Here’s just a selection of real life uses for surfing anonymously in real life.

• • Obviously hiding your IP address from Web Sites you visit

 

• • Banned from a forum? Use a proxy to sign on again and join in again

 

• • All over the world – social sites like Facebook are banned – anonymous surfing allows you to view and participate

 

• • Blocked from Online gambling in USA? Anonymous surfing allows you to gamble wherever you like

 

• • Love the BBC IPlayer, but blocked because outside the UK, no problem surf from a UK proxy

 

• • Blocked from sites like Hulu, ABC or NBC because outside the states – fast US Proxies can help

 

• • Want to use search engines with a different perspective – surf via proxy for different results

 

• Happy that your ISP logs everything you do? Anonymous surfing will keep your privacy

That’s a very small selection, it could be argued that the ability of surfing the internet anonymously actually protects free speech. Many countries control and censor a huge amount of what their citizens do online. Bloggers in many countries have been jailed purely for speaking their mind – watch the internet news it happens every day – here’s some Iranian bloggers jailed, scarey huh!!!

Well I hope I’ve just mentioned a few benefits of anonymous surfing online. There really are plenty, if you want to read about the software I use you can read about it here – Identity Cloaker Review, if you explore the rest of my blog you’ll find loads more information as well.

Can a Proxy Hide Your IP Address?

Yes, a proxy can hide your IP address. By connecting to a proxy server, your IP address is hidden and replaced by the server’s IP address. This way, the website or service that you are connecting to will only see the proxy server’s IP address and not your own.

This might sound trivial, but it makes proxies an extremely important tool.  It allows you to both keep your location and identity hidden from websites you visit.  It also allows you to bypass filters and restrictions targeted on your actual IP address.

IS a Proxy Server like a VPN ?

No, a proxy server is not like a VPN. A proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. It can be used to improve the performance of a network and to filter web traffic. A VPN, on the other hand, is a virtual private network that provides a secure connection between two or more devices by creating a private network over a public one.

They both do however hide your IP address and location from any website you visit.  A VPN though is arguably more effective as it’s harder to detect and also encrypts the data while in transit.  Both usually work to bypass geo-targeting blocks though, so are useful for watching restricted TV and media sites online.