Sunday, August 21, 2005

Free Anonymous Browsing Sites

There are several free sites on the Internet that allow you to protect your online privacy when visiting other web sites. The web sites are called 'anonymous proxy', which means that they act as a middleman and request the web page for you. These sites can help prevent other web sites from collecting personal information about you, such as: browser type, computer type, country, IP address, and more.

This web page is a good example of what a web site can find out about you when you visit it. This site will show where your IP address is originating. This allows web site owners and web advertisers to target advertising and track your browsing habits. Note: If you use a national ISP there is a good chance that this information will not display correctly.

If you want to see other information that web sites can find out about you, check out this web page on the Anonymizer site. It gives a good example of information that can be leaked (this is by design) by your browser.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this page comes without any warranty whatsoever. I do not recommend or endorse any of these web sites, contents, or practices. Use these sites at your own risk!

Note: Most of these web site employ some type of advertising that is displayed on the web page your visiting, or offer a fee-based premium service.
  • Anonymizer (This site is the grand-daddy of all anonymous browsing web sites. It's not a free service, but I will give it an honorable mention.)
  • The-Cloak (This site provides the most sophisticated controls, but maybe be too complex for users who don't understand the technology.)
  • Anonymouse (Provides very basic anonymous surfing, but the least intrusive interface.)
  • The VirtualBrowser (This site can block: cookies, scripts, HTTP referrer information, and more.)
  • Proxify (Provides SSL anonymous surfing. This site can block: ads, cookies, scripts, and HTTP referrer information.)
  • SurfShield.net (This site can block: cookies, scripts, and HTTP referrer information.)
  • Guardster (Provides very basic anonymous surfing)

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