Browse Anonymously-gctid50321

[Ajamu]

Browse Anonymously | PCMag.com

                                 Every Web site you visit  knows your IP address and roughly where you live. With a little effort a  site can gather much more information. At times you may want to surf  without giving away your identity; here's how.

            By Neil J. Rubenking

'"

n".self::process_list_items("'.str_replace('
', '', '

• March 27, 2012
• 2 Comments
  ').'")."n

"'

                       On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog, but every website you  visit knows where you live. Sites can learn an amazing amount of  information about you. Much of the time you may not care, but there are  those occasions when you'd rather keep your identity cloaked. There's a  lot you can do to browse the Web without revealing your personal  details.

  What Sites Can Learn
Every website you visit knows your IP address—the Internet address of  your computer. Without that information the servers wouldn't know where  to send the pages requested by your browser. Sites like www.WhatIsMyIP.com will even report back that IP address, in case you need to know for yourself.

Given the IP address, a site can look up the geographic location of  the server hosting that address and thereby learn approximately where  you live. It's not always accurate. For example, when I'm connected  through PCMag's Virtual Private Network (VPN) in New York, websites  think that's where I'm located. Still, some sites use this information  to send locale-targeted ads.

  Cookies for Memory
A simple HTML-based website lives with short-term memory loss. When your  browser requests a specific page or object, the server responds and  promptly forgets about you. Next time your browser requests a page, it's  a completely new interaction.

  In order to provide continuity, many sites use cookies to store  session information. A cookie is a simple text file that resides on your  computer and that can only be accessed by the website that created it.  Cookies can store your preferences, your login credentials, or anything  else the site designer chooses. That includes anything you've entered in  a Web form on the site.

  Ad networks are big consumers of cookies. The same ad network may  place banners on hundreds of different sites. A cookie associated with  the ad network identifies which ads you've seen most recently, so you'll  get a different ad from the rotation each time. The ad network can also  build up a dossier on your habits by noting the ad-equipped sites you  visit, the site you linked from, ads you actually click, and more.

  The Cookie Cure
Wiping out all stored cookies and preventing sites from storing new  cookies would, of course, eliminate any possible privacy loss through  cookies. That's a bit extreme, though. Some sites can't even function  with cookies disabled. But do consider going into your browser's  settings and disabling "third-party cookies." This prevents ad networks  from using cookies to track you.

  Become Truly Anonymous
Surfing without giving away anything about yourself can be simple.  Google the words "free secure anonymizing proxy" (no quotes) and  experiment with the sites that turn up. A secure anonymizing proxy sits  between your browser and the sites you visit. The site sees only the  proxy.

  For a more thorough solution, download and use The Onion Router (TOR).  This Open Source tool originated in a U.S. Navy project, but now it's  used by all kinds of people worldwide, including the hactivist group  Anonymous. Anonymous-backed Twitter account @YourAnonNews recently  posted "Rules #1, #2, #3 and #4 of being #Anonymous - Always, always,  always, ALWAYS use Tor."

  When you surf through TOR, your browser's data requests take a  circuitous route through randomly-chosen TOR servers. All traffic is  encrypted except the final connection from a TOR server to the actual  website. Anyone intercepting a packet along the way won't learn anything  about you or the destination website.

  Don't Panic
If you're a journalist traveling in a country that limits Internet  access, connecting anonymously may be a matter of life and death. The  TOR network is easy to use and provides excellent cover. For occasional  forays into anonymous surfing a free secure anonymizing proxy website  may be sufficient. But for idle Web surfing, the anonymity of the crowd  is probably all you need. Yes, you're special, but so are the other  millions of casual Web surfers.

[NyameNti]

Ajamu;50321 wrote: Browse Anonymously | PCMag.com

                                 Every Web site you visit  knows your IP address and roughly where you live. With a little effort a  site can gather much more information. At times you may want to surf  without giving away your identity; here's how.

            By Neil J. Rubenking

'"

n".self::process_list_items("'.str_replace('
', '', '

• March 27, 2012
• 2 Comments
  ').'")."n

"'

                       On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog, but every website you  visit knows where you live. Sites can learn an amazing amount of  information about you. Much of the time you may not care, but there are  those occasions when you'd rather keep your identity cloaked. There's a  lot you can do to browse the Web without revealing your personal  details.

  What Sites Can Learn
Every website you visit knows your IP address—the Internet address of  your computer. Without that information the servers wouldn't know where  to send the pages requested by your browser. Sites like www.WhatIsMyIP.com will even report back that IP address, in case you need to know for yourself.

Given the IP address, a site can look up the geographic location of  the server hosting that address and thereby learn approximately where  you live. It's not always accurate. For example, when I'm connected  through PCMag's Virtual Private Network (VPN) in New York, websites  think that's where I'm located. Still, some sites use this information  to send locale-targeted ads.

  Cookies for Memory
A simple HTML-based website lives with short-term memory loss. When your  browser requests a specific page or object, the server responds and  promptly forgets about you. Next time your browser requests a page, it's  a completely new interaction.

  In order to provide continuity, many sites use cookies to store  session information. A cookie is a simple text file that resides on your  computer and that can only be accessed by the website that created it.  Cookies can store your preferences, your login credentials, or anything  else the site designer chooses. That includes anything you've entered in  a Web form on the site.

  Ad networks are big consumers of cookies. The same ad network may  place banners on hundreds of different sites. A cookie associated with  the ad network identifies which ads you've seen most recently, so you'll  get a different ad from the rotation each time. The ad network can also  build up a dossier on your habits by noting the ad-equipped sites you  visit, the site you linked from, ads you actually click, and more.

  The Cookie Cure
Wiping out all stored cookies and preventing sites from storing new  cookies would, of course, eliminate any possible privacy loss through  cookies. That's a bit extreme, though. Some sites can't even function  with cookies disabled. But do consider going into your browser's  settings and disabling "third-party cookies." This prevents ad networks  from using cookies to track you.

  Become Truly Anonymous
Surfing without giving away anything about yourself can be simple.  Google the words "free secure anonymizing proxy" (no quotes) and  experiment with the sites that turn up. A secure anonymizing proxy sits  between your browser and the sites you visit. The site sees only the  proxy.

  For a more thorough solution, download and use The Onion Router (TOR).  This Open Source tool originated in a U.S. Navy project, but now it's  used by all kinds of people worldwide, including the hactivist group  Anonymous. Anonymous-backed Twitter account @YourAnonNews recently  posted "Rules #1, #2, #3 and #4 of being #Anonymous - Always, always,  always, ALWAYS use Tor."

  When you surf through TOR, your browser's data requests take a  circuitous route through randomly-chosen TOR servers. All traffic is  encrypted except the final connection from a TOR server to the actual  website. Anyone intercepting a packet along the way won't learn anything  about you or the destination website.

  Don't Panic
If you're a journalist traveling in a country that limits Internet  access, connecting anonymously may be a matter of life and death. The  TOR network is easy to use and provides excellent cover. For occasional  forays into anonymous surfing a free secure anonymizing proxy website  may be sufficient. But for idle Web surfing, the anonymity of the crowd  is probably all you need. Yes, you're special, but so are the other  millions of casual Web surfers.

Once your IP fingerprint is out there it is not as thou you can delete your 'past history' in regards to sites visited correct?  So this info is useful when you start fresh under a new IP/computer, right?  It is safe to assume that you are likely still known geographically from the original info.  I notice even on Youtube that categories come up that reflect my past browse/viewing history.

[Ajamu]

Correct, your history's almost permanent & can/will be used by anybody that can access it (sites visited, geographic location based on ip address, kwk.).

Although not 100% effective (i've read 80%-90%), by following the info from these posts you're just minimizing being tracked from that point on (regardless of pc, ip address, kwk.).

NyameNti;51971 wrote: Once your IP fingerprint is out there it is not as thou you can delete your 'past history' in regards to sites visited correct?  So this info is useful when you start fresh under a new IP/computer, right?  It is safe to assume that you are likely still known geographically from the original info.  I notice even on Youtube that categories come up that reflect my past browse/viewing history.