Ask Slashdot: Choosing Anonymous Proxies?

bradley13 writes "There are lots of anonymous proxies out there, and anyone concerned about their privacy probably uses one for at least some of their web browsing. The Megaupload story highlights the fact that having servers in the USA is not a great idea. There are also other countries one may not want to trust. Oddly, very few proxy services mention where their equipment is located. What anonymous proxy services do you use? What criteria do you use to select them? How paranoid are you, and for what types of Internet usage?"

Botnets and Seven Chains

[Christopher B. Linn]

It's the only way to stay truly anonymous and secure on the internet. You cannot trust companies to provide you true anonymity and proxies, especially if money is involved.

Never trust anyone, and never expose to anyone who you are. That is the only way to stay secure on the internet.

The Onion Router

[Anonymous Coward]

It is fine for most purposes, and if you are really worried about backtracking, login from an open WiFi, route through TOR out the exit node and through one or two of the numerous free online proxies. Slow as molasses in January, but there it is.

Some options

[Anonymous Coward]

I use Giganews' 'VyperVPN service. They have servers all over the world and you can select which country you want to use.
I've also used privatetunnels.com which is based in the Ukraine and that was a great service as well.

The best anonymouse proxy is an open wifi

[Anon-Admin]

I personally use open wifi connections, they are about as anonymous as you can get. I picked up a 10" google pad with GPS, installed the software and took a drive. They are all over the place, that is assuming you dont use the open one at the local bar, Denny's, McDonalds, Cigar club, Starbucks, etc, etc, etc.

If you look, you will find that open and available wifi connections are easy to find, completely anonymous, and fun. Fun because it is amazing what people will share on there local network with an open wifi connection ;)

panopticlick

[jginspace]

What degree of anonymity are you looking for? Exactly which of the HTTP request headers do you wish to be anonymized? Okay so your proxy is not passing on your IP address. So It's not passing on common proxy behaviours (like HTTP 1.0 requests). And there's no 'proxy' anywhere in the request. You're not even using TOR. Well done. Now check Panopticlick [eff.org]. You're not anonymous. Now exactly what kind of proxy where you looking for and what kind of anonymity were you looking for?

VTunnel has a proven track record

[diversiform]

of thwarting FBI requests: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/exclusive-how-the-fbi-investigates-the-activities-of-anonymous.ars [arstechnica.com]

Re:Coffee shop?

[parlancex]

Just make sure if you buy anything it's cash only. :)

Re:Botnets and Seven Chains

[Ethanol-fueled]

The point he's trying to make is that nobody knows that better than he does - Cisco gear is widely used to facilitate eavesdropping and contains multiple undocumented backdoors for the 3-letter agencies.

Your proxy could be 100% dedicated to customer privacy, but can be unwittingly monitored and its users exposed as long as the proxy utilizes Cisco gear.

He did not slip or contradict himself - he is doing you all a favor, and speaks with authority.