How to browse the Internet anonymously.

A Google search gives for instance [this CNet article|http://www.cnet.com.au/software/internet/0,239029524,240056105,00.htm] and [this Computer World article|http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic &articleId=9012778]. Perhaps they help?

Or if you mean surf annonymously so that somebody else using your computer can't find out what sites you've visited, then use Safari and select Safari-Private Browsing.

/p

The problem I have encountered is the fact that setting it up (anonymous browsing, that is) is far from being a simple and straightforward process.

Not only is not not 'simple and straightforward', it's completely impossible. There is no way you can completely shield yourself from releasing some information since there's always a paper trail (an electronic one, at least).

Even if you use a proxy server (which will mask your IP address from the site you visit), there's nothing to say that the proxy doesn't log the access and therefore you can be traced via the proxy logs.

I also tried the suggestion of using a public proxy. After locating several from a list recommended from one of your links I tried setting them up in the networks preference settings but they simply wouldn't work.

By their very nature, many public proxies are transient - they come and go based on a number of factors including the incentive of the proxy operator to handle traffic (he's going to bear the bandwidth cost, of course), legal matters, and the proxy trying to make itself harder to find by moving frequently.

The process isn't easy and considering that privacy is a serious issue these days I am surprised a simple solution doesn't already exists for Mac users.

I'm confused as to why you think using a proxy in any way improves your privacy or security online. If anything, using an unknown proxy opens you up to all kinds of real issues that are only theoretically a problem if you access the site directly.

You need to bear in mind that anything you download could easily be logged and intercepted by the proxy operator - something especially worth considering should you visit your bank's internet portal, for example. You really are giving the proxy operator ALL your keys to your online world yet you don't know who she/he is.
So when it comes to using an unknown proxy you have to ask yourself whether you trust the person who runs it (whom you don't know) more or less than you trust the sites(s) you're accessing.

Hey Joseph,

I simply tried to use a guide online, and I had to go to Safari Preferences and add all this stuff. And, I don't want to use a proxy for legal prepossess, but to stay safe. The only reason I started researching and wanted a proxy was because I was part of a popular game forum that was, in my opinion, unsafe.

There where a lot of users there that you couldn't trust, and as I read on the website... In only a click of a button, could hackers find your IP and track you down. I am astonished also, that this proxy support hasn't already been given by Apply itself!

I am still looking for it, and if anyone knows please post here!

Joseph Chamberlain wrote:
Considering one wishes to browse the Internet anonymously what do you suggest as being a reasonable secure and reasonably simple way to accomplish this ?

Take your laptop out of your own house to a public wifi network (where the IP address is in use by hundreds of different people) and use features like private browsing, then clear your cookies and cache afterward. Still not foolproof since there are still several other levels at which you might be identified, but as good as you an do without being a security expert.

However, using your computer on a public wireless network means you also have to shield your computer from any hackers on the same local network.

First, I'd recommend using Firefox over Safari.

Then install Tor <http://www.torproject.org>. Follow the install and configure guide <http://www.torproject.org/docs/tor-doc-osx.html.en>. Unfortunately, the installer didn't install the Torbutton extension for Firefox, but it was easy enough to do that myself <http://www.torproject.org/torbutton/index.html.en>.

I'd also recommend installing Little Snitch <http://www.obdev.at/index.html> so you can configure and keep an eye on your local network and internet I/O activity, see what software is trying to phone home, etc.

Unfortunately, companies like Adobe, FileMaker/Apple, and some others, have started using the commercial spyware FlexNet which phones home undetected by Little Snitch, or any other software, including Unix level apps. It's unknown exactly what information it is extracting from your system, exactly where this info is being sent, and what is being done with it.

Software firewalls, on the same machine that FlexNet is running on, can't detect it or stop it. Hardware firewalls certainly should be able to.

This is certainly an invasion of privacy, and very scary stuff. Shame on Adobe and Apple!

Do a Google search for FlexNet. Also search for FlexNet at MacInTouch.com. You can read some of the details about FlexNet on the Little Snitch forums <http://forums.obdev.at/viewtopic.php?t=577>.

It seems that our privacy may be more at risk from installing Apple and Adobe products than surfing the web. Big brother is spying on us, without our consent or knowledge.

Whatever you do, step one is never to use a WiFi connection. With WiFi you have potentially zero privacy.
If you use a proxy, as noted by others, the people running the proxy know everything you are doing and you then ask why they would offer a free service?? The answer may be in the question.
And even when using a proxy, your ISP knows what you are doing, even if the website you are accessing does not.

There is no privacy. There is no anonymity anymore. Just consider FaceBook, where people are dying, sometimes literally, to divulge their most private things.

In general, the instant you connect to the internet your privacy vanishes. And if you use WiFi it's really gone.

Hotspot Shield has worked well for me.

http://hotspotshield.com/

Open the application, then click Run Hotspot Shield and wait for it to connect and get you a new IP. It displays a menu icon near the Spotlight icon so you can easily quit.

One of your links suggest Tor. At first Tor seems to be the ideal solution as it has its own Mac application that is supposed to install all one needs. I tried and found that setting it up was quite a complicated endeavor. I finally gave it up.

First off, instead of trying to install Tor, try installing Vidalia, which has Tor bundled within it. It's very easy to setup:

https://www.torproject.org/vidalia/

After you setup Vidalia, have it start automatically when you startup, so you never forget to launch it. It launches and connects to the Tor Network very quickly. While Vidalia works with fast user switching, it can only run on one account at a time (unless you take the time to configure it which is not clear to me).

Next, install Privoxy. Also place it in your startup folder. Together with Vidalia/Tor, you'll be in pretty good shape, other than "end to end" traffic monitoring, which there appears to be no solution for as of yet:

http://www.privoxy.org/

Actually, I just thought of this. The "end to end" traffic monitoring may be defeated if you have enabled your stealth mode, behind your firewall. I just checked this on

www.canyouseeme.org/

and I kept getting the following message:

Error: I could not see your service on xx.xx.xxx.x on port (80)
Reason: Connection timed out

So it looks like as long as the stealth mode is enabled for your internet port (80), you can't be seen by "end to end" traffic monitoring.

Anybody? Is this a correct assumption?

Message was edited by: VitoArc

Just use a local library computer and be sure you wear a mask 🙂
There is no anonymity anymore. Use a friend's computer.
Anything one does is or can be monitored by one's ISP. If you connect to a "so called" anonymous site, your own ISP still can access all your traffic. Unless you have some magical way of connecting to the internet without using and ISP, you are being monitored.

Hi Joseph,
If you're willing to pay for a solution, you should definitely check out NetShade. http://www.raynersoftware.com/netshade . It's $29, and it's a Mac app that will connect you through either a public proxy server (the same kind that can be found on the Internet,) or through NetShade's own private proxy server. The NetShade server is very fast and supports HTTPS as well as HTTP. The program is very straightforward and will have you up and running in no time, but of course it is not free.