You have probably come across the term proxy if you spend any amount of time online. Depending on your location proxies might already play an important part of your life. Firstly lets’s explain what a proxy server is, in the simple terms, it is a computer which sits and handles you web requests. Instead of asking for a web page directly, the proxy fetches the pages for you, and so protects your real identity from that server. It is a middle man who fetches all your web pages and delivers them to you.
So why would people want to use say a UK proxyserver ? Well there are very many reasons, but here’s some of the most used ones.
Privacy and security are important uses, using a proxy server prevents you being logged and monitored to some extent. Most websites do this to some extent for all sorts of uses. Your IP address is logged on most websites you visit, using a proxy means that the IP address of the proxy is recorded instead. Of course this only works if you use a secure and properly configured proxy server, which most people never actually do prefering the free ones.
To access blocked and restricted content, lots of web sites control access to their content. For an example look at media sites like Hulu and the BBC, they block IP addresses based on countries. Lots of big online companies charge different prices to different countries in a desperate attempt to hold on to the old price discrimination models that used to bring in such great profits. Again the restrictions are based on your IP address, so if the proxy you use is in the right country then you can bypass many of these blocks.
The problem as ever is that people will insist on thinking that a free proxy server is a good idea, of course anything for free sounds good but alas it is not the case here. Be sensible remember a proxy costs a lot to run, and ask yourself why people would offer these for free? Well tehre’s again lots of answers but the main reasons are they don’t know – the servers have been hacked into and proxy access enabled, some will supply you with adverts with your browsing in order to generate income but by the far the worst are the ones run by identity thieves. These people provide you with a fast, reliable proxy because they know they can use it to steal your account details and paswords in exchange.
I like proxies, they break down artificial borders which companies are trying to create, they also help protect us from arbitrary censorship from dodgy governments. People should use them but be very careful how they use them, many are simple not safe to use. If you want to read more about proxies – please visit my blog which has lots of information onanonymous proxies
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