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It is not always for bad reasons that people seek to learn how to surf the web anonymously. There are people with concerns about the risk of identity theft, authoritarian crackdown in totalitarian regimes, and privacy when seeking personal information such as treatment options, and online banking. This makes anonymous surfing a desirable option for them.

Factors affecting privacy during regular surfing is one’s IP address and the presence of cookies. An IP address is the unique identifier of any gadget connected to the internet that makes it possible for it to receive and send information. It is possible for third parties to know where someone located using their IP address. When coupled with other search information, third parties can know enough to fraudulently target an individual. This brings us to cookies. Cookies are small text files that a website sends to a computer to enable certain functions, such as making of online payments. These are called first party cookies. However, affiliate sites may send their own cookies, referred to as third party cookies. The user has no control over these. When someone combines information collected from a persons IP address, though cookies and surfing data, they potentially have enough information to piece together their online ID. Read the rest of this entry »