So how exactly was my privacy protected? For one thing, news sites weren't able to show me ads based on what I'd read previously. And since my IP address changed frequently, e-commerce sites and search engines couldn't correlate my many searches with a single IP address.See what he did to cover his tracks. CONTACT: Leave me a Houston or Texas media news tip | COMMENT: Click to leave your thoughts on this post hereThat was the upside. All the drawbacks, though, gnawed at me. I'm a big fan of convenience, and I don't mind a little personalization, which by definition means a Web site needs to know it's me.
What's more, no software can guarantee anonymity in the event you're accused of a crime. A prosecutor with a search warrant, or even the other side in a civil case, can get access to your computer and try to retrace your steps. To be sure, anonymizing services can make it much tougher for authorities to trace you -- a reason we ought to worry about the appeal of this software to criminals.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Being anonymous on the Net isn't easy
David Kesmodel of the Wall Street Journal tried to live anonymously on the Internet and found it wasn't easy: