I realise this may look like I'm asking for nefarious reasons but is there a simple way to hide my presence online? I'm asking because I've been on a couple of websites recently where there have been little boxes saying 'your ip is ######, you're on a mac using safari' and a little bit of me feels a bit paranoid that I have this red flag waving my status. i suppose I need not worry but if I can be a little more discreet I'd be happier.
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Anonymity online
- Thread starter scarlets knees
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You can use a proxy server, such as:
http://proxify.com/
If you're at a University, you probably have proxy service available there for free.
As far as the Mac using Safari part, you can set Safari to spoof another browser from the debug menu. Doing so may possibly have deleterious effects on your browsing experience, so you have to decide whether being anonymous is preferable or having websites *work* is preferable.
Ultimately, of course, if you use the web for the commission of a crime, using a proxy server is unlikely to assist you, though.
I'm pretty sure they keep records, which they would be forced to disclose by a court if the circumstances justified it.
*shrug*
In the end, to me, it's like a phone call. Why should you expect the right to call someone without them knowing it's you who's calling? In the same way, why do you expect to be able to be anonymous when visiting websites? If you were a hacker (not that you are ... if you were, you'd already know all of this) and you were visiting my site, I'd want a way to track your basic net identity.
http://proxify.com/
If you're at a University, you probably have proxy service available there for free.
As far as the Mac using Safari part, you can set Safari to spoof another browser from the debug menu. Doing so may possibly have deleterious effects on your browsing experience, so you have to decide whether being anonymous is preferable or having websites *work* is preferable.
Ultimately, of course, if you use the web for the commission of a crime, using a proxy server is unlikely to assist you, though.
I'm pretty sure they keep records, which they would be forced to disclose by a court if the circumstances justified it.*shrug*
In the end, to me, it's like a phone call. Why should you expect the right to call someone without them knowing it's you who's calling? In the same way, why do you expect to be able to be anonymous when visiting websites? If you were a hacker (not that you are ... if you were, you'd already know all of this) and you were visiting my site, I'd want a way to track your basic net identity.
thanks, I knew I could try a proxy server but thought it was going to be too complicated. I'm not at uni and a recent switcher so while I could probably do it via windows I'm not confident enough yet with OSX to play around too much. That site looks great though, much simpler!
I see your point about hiding my identity but then when I use the phone I use caller id blocking so people don't get my phone number, but I still talk to them. I suppose it's just that I want to be able to announce myself should I want to, after all if I go into a physical shop or public space I have the choice of announcing who I am.
Then again, if I'm legit I have nothing to worry about ......
I see your point about hiding my identity but then when I use the phone I use caller id blocking so people don't get my phone number, but I still talk to them. I suppose it's just that I want to be able to announce myself should I want to, after all if I go into a physical shop or public space I have the choice of announcing who I am.
Then again, if I'm legit I have nothing to worry about ......
You may need to enable the debug menu to get it to work -- it's worth knowing about for other reasons. Here's how:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030110063041629
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030110063041629
Proxy or accept it.
The HTTP protocol relies on the IP addresses to function - its a stateless request/response protocol - You (well, your computer) ask for something in a specially formatted string based request and it delivers its response back to you using a similarly formatted string. No connection remains open nor is one ever created between two endpoints (ie. Your computer and a web server). If you want to hide or remove your IP from the requests, then don't expect to use the internet.
As for your browser agent, PLEASE don't mask that becuase we want web developers to consider developing sites that are compatible with the mac platform. Hiding (or masking) the browser you are using will just lead to more problems as many developers write different versions of a web site for different browsers.
The HTTP protocol relies on the IP addresses to function - its a stateless request/response protocol - You (well, your computer) ask for something in a specially formatted string based request and it delivers its response back to you using a similarly formatted string. No connection remains open nor is one ever created between two endpoints (ie. Your computer and a web server). If you want to hide or remove your IP from the requests, then don't expect to use the internet.
As for your browser agent, PLEASE don't mask that becuase we want web developers to consider developing sites that are compatible with the mac platform. Hiding (or masking) the browser you are using will just lead to more problems as many developers write different versions of a web site for different browsers.