Even if many users believe that a wrong name is enough: The Internet is anything but anonymous! The IP address of the Internet connection makes it very easy to trace users. Cookies also help to identify a computer as such on the Internet - especially if they come from services such as Google or Facebook. While cookies can be easily deleted and modern browsers always have an option to generally reject them, obfuscating the IP address is much more complex. For effective anonymization, it is therefore imperative to disguise the IP address.
IP addresses are also dangerous
But IP addresses also have two other disadvantages: Since the Internet is a huge network, an attacker can use the IP address to launch targeted attacks on the router or the PCs behind it. This is technically complex, but by no means impossible. And so-called geoblocking functions prevent certain websites and content from being accessed. An anonymization of the IP address can also help here. As a rule, there are three options: the free Tor browser, a paid VPN or a proxy server. What all three technologies have in common is that they redirect the data traffic via other servers and thus disguise the IP address of the actual user..
This is how proxy servers work
Proxy servers are the oldest method of making Internet traffic much more anonymous. Internet veterans will recall that in the age of analog modems, proxy servers had to be set up by default. These were provider proxies that primarily served one purpose: to significantly accelerate the then lame internet traffic by temporarily storing data from websites. Hence the name “Proxy” from Latin “Proximus”: The one lying close. If you called up www.heise.de at that time, the proxy server first looked to see whether it had already saved the page or the download - and then delivered the content to the PC much faster with reduced loading times and signal paths. If the page was not saved, the proxy retrieved the page in order to then deliver it. Positive side effect:The controlled web server could not see the IP address of the requesting computer, only that of the proxy server. The result is anonymization. To this day, proxies work this way.
Anonymization effect only with free proxies
Of course, the provider proxy is an extremely bad choice when it comes to anonymization, since the provider probably keeps a record of who has accessed what and when. This is why the provider proxies are actually no longer relevant in times of fast Internet connections, although they are still in operation in many cases. When it comes to anonymization, free proxy servers, which are best located abroad, are more interesting: this redirect makes it difficult to track down the data, and such a free proxy at best knows the IP address of its user and nothing else. This means that it can serve as an anonymization solution: the foreign server retrieves the data for the user, the user remains anonymous as one of many behind the proxy. The problem with this is that free proxy servers are extremely difficult to find..
Why not Tor or VPN?
Now, of course, the question arises why proxies are still relevant for this type of anonymization. With VPN and Tor there are much more elegant solutions. The answer is simple: Tor initially anonymizes only within the Tor browser; redirecting all Internet traffic via the so-called onion network is technically complex and, above all, slow. VPN services are better positioned here: They anonymize all network traffic and are much faster. However, they are also chargeable and the VPN user knows the personal data of his users, which in the worst case scenario he has to hand over to investigative authorities. This is exactly where proxy servers come into play: the setup is simple, the anonymization effect is great - and the servers are mostly free.
The simplest form of proxy anonymization: proxy services
Technical know-how is not required for the simplest form of proxy use, the so-called web proxy, which anonymizes website calls: There are numerous websites on the Internet that offer this service, including services such as Hidemyass , Anonymouse , HideMe or web proxy : You have an input field for a URL, which is then called up via the provider's proxy. The user remains invisible to the website in this setting..
There are proxy settings in every tool and system
In addition, every operating system and every online application has proxy settings, which means that proxy servers can be used without having to reinstall software. If a proxy is known, it only needs to be set up for the connection or the program, and Internet traffic is already running through this proxy server. The biggest problem at this point, however, is to find a reliable and fast foreign proxy. There are various websites on the Internet that display currently available proxies, so-called proxy lists. However, the proxies shown here are often slow or unreliable. Unfortunately, this can only be found out by entering the proxy.
Bottom line: proxies are handy, but difficult to find
The bottom line is that free proxy servers are a handy and free way to anonymize internet traffic. However, there are also tangible disadvantages: The corresponding proxies are usually overloaded and very, very slow. Instead of spending hours looking for working proxies, it makes sense to go straight to a VPN: At around 10 euros a month, this may not be cheap, but it offers reliable protection with maximum accessibility and speed.
