Tweaked Firefox Lets You Surf Internet Without a Trace

[rkr1958]

A tweaked version of Firefox that makes Web browsing anonymous has been released by a group of privacy-minded coders.

Every few minutes, the Torpark browser causes a computer's IP address to appear to change. IP addresses are numeric identifier given to computers on the Internet. The number can be used along with other data to potentially track down a user, as many Web sites keep track of IP addresses.

Full story at http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127200-c,onlineprivacy/article.html

[CrayonEater]

The same problem exists with this Torpark browser as with anything else that uses an "anonymous" proxy - you are at the mercy of the ethics of the people running the proxy. Since you are piping everything you do through their computer (and, in this case, essentially using their software as well), they are in a perfect position to monitor everything you do. Even with encryption Any if they're at all smart, they WILL monitor you, if only for CYA purposes.

Furthermore, some services do lock out IPs coming from places with high incidences of problems, chiefly China and Russia, which this service uses.

Also, a lot of people don't realize that a proxy network won't protect you from most kinds of malware if it's already infectied your machine.

I do tend to believe that this product and it's network are on the level and that they are genuinely interested in protecting people's privacy, but be aware of the risks and limitations.