Anonymity online
There are occasions when you need to surf online anonymously. This may be for a variety of quite legitimate reasons. For example, Google know so much about you and your computer connection, even if you are not logged into a Google account, the search results that are served up are biased towards your physical location and preferences. Sometimes you want differently biased results – totally unbiased results are probably no longer possible.
I have recently come across a piece of software that protects your web browsing by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all over the world. This system prevents anyone who is watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location. The software is called ‘Tor’ and it works with many of your existing applications, including web browsers, instant messaging clients, remote login, and other applications based on the TCP protocol.
For web browsing, there is a Tor bundle that integrates very neatly with Firefox.
For more information, take a look at the Tor website.
