Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Benefits Of Proxy Sites

By Richard R Fortuna

You've probably heard of the whole phenomenon of proxy sites, especially if you stay in or around a college campus. Proxy sites are easily some of the most useful tools you could get on the Internet, especially now that privacy and security are such top priorities. Here are a couple of reasons why you'd want to look for a proxy for your own use.

Liberating the Internet

Wireless Internet access is a dime a dozen nowadays, especially with so many schools and institutions offering free access left and right. The only problem with all that free bandwidth is that your browsing can be very, very limited. In an effort to maintain the bandwidth for 'educational uses' only, many of the places that offer wireless Internet ban sites like MySpace, Friendster and Facebook.

Proxy sites are the quickest way to regain access to those important sites and " yes " social networks. Their non-blacklisted URLs let you surf under the radar of the server, so you'll be able to access those banned sites, social networks and more risqu domains " even when the administrators tell you otherwise.

At the same time, the school servers also won't be able to track the sites that you visit. All they'll see is a record of your visiting the URL of the proxy site, but no more than that. It's a handy solution if you don't want the school administrators nosing about your Internet activity.

Privacy, Please

Avoiding awkward questions from teachers and bosses about your browsing activity is just one part of the deal. Many websites nowadays want to take note of your IP address and track your movements so that they can feed you better advertisements. If you're the average Internet user, this is something you'll want to avoid, especially with all the viruses and malware going around nowadays.

By using a proxy site, you put an intermediary IP address between yourself and the sites you browse. As a result, the sites you visit will only be able to see the IP address of the proxy site you used, and not that of your own computer. You can then surf a little easier, assured that anybody trying to track you will have a much harder time for it.

This is good news if you're the security-conscious kind of computer user, or if you're using a shared PC to browse the Internet. Proxy sites allow you to maintain a certain level of privacy for your online activities, no matter where in the world you are or what computer you use. It's perfect for visiting off-limits domains, banned sites and pages with very sensitive information.

With the way technology and software has developed, it has become easy for anyone to monitor your activity on the Internet. It's a disquieting thought, especially when you consider all the personal and private things you do online. Do you want to make your Internet browsing experience fun and worry-free? Proxy sites will be the only things you'll need.

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