We are happy to announce that version 1.1 of our free hide IP address product is available for download. After the huge success of the first version (more than 5000 downloads), we have learned some lessons and improved this simple, yet efficient tool.

There are no important UI changes. Instead we have fixed some bugs and we have added new, better proxies.

While you are welcomed to continue using NotMYIP 1.0, we recommend you upgrade to version 1.1. You can download NotMyIP 1.1 from here.

We receive a lot of emails from our users asking how is NotMyIP different from Ultrasurf and when should they use one instead of the other. I am going to answer these questions and try to be as objective as possible taking into account that NotMyIP is our baby. :)

From the very beginning we need to say that we have not created NotMyIP to take the place of Ultrasurf, but more to be an alternative. More and more Ultrasurf users are complaining (on blogs, forums, etc.) that Ultrasurf is seen as malware by a lot of security solutions and also the IPs used are blocked by many sites.

NotMyIP and Ultrasurf are very similar regarding the functionality and also the interface. Here is a table that compares the 2 products:

	NotMyIP	Ultrasurf
Free tool	Yes	Yes
One click IP change	Yes	Yes
Changes your IP to a US one	Yes	Yes
Changes your IP to a non-US IP address	No	No
Clears your browser cookies	No	Yes
Automatically configures IE	Yes	Yes
Automatically configures Firefox	Yes	No, an add-on must be installed.
Automatically configures other browsers	Yes	No, manual configuration is needed.
Seen as malware by security solutions	Not yet	Very probable
Blacklisted IPs	No	Most of them (every version exposes different IPs)
Speed	Medium	Medium

To sum up this short comparison, both products are great to overcome censorship and help people being blocked. Both have pros and cons, but the most important aspect is that they are free. We do not recommend using NotMyIP instead of Ultrasurf, but to use the one that it is working for you. So feel free to test both of them.

If you need more IPs from US and also IPs from UK, Canada, Germany, Ireland, France, etc. you should also try Anonymity Gateway.

[NotMyIP | Anonymity Gateway]

The new Anonymity Gateway nicely solves a big problem related to anonymous browsing tools. Most of these tools are able to configure Internet Explorer automatically, but can not do the same thing for Firefox. One example is Ultrasurf that can be used for Firefox only after manual configuration or after installation of an add-on.



Anonymity Gateway is able to change your IP address regardless of the browser you use. Once enabled, Anonymity Gateway automatically configures all browsers (including Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari) to use the selected IP address/proxy.

How to use Anonymity Gateway

1. Download and install the product
2. Start Anonymity Gateway
3. Choose your desired location (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Ireland, etc)
4. Press "Enable Online Anonymity"
5. Open Firefox and start browsing anonymously
6. When you want to browse again with your IP address you need to press "Disable Online Anonymity".

It's that simple! In less than 5 minutes you are able to browse anonymously with Firefox.

[Anonymity Gateway Features | Download Anonymity Gateway]

You've been doing all the right things. You change passwords regularly, you clear your cookies (and not just the ones in your jar), you are very cautious about deleting your browsing history whenever you are on a shared computer, you also encrypt your mails, and you don't download software unless you're really, really sure of everything. But even with all that, aren't you forgetting something? Your ISP!

Let's face it - you can never be 100% private and secure on the internet. In fact, a judge in Ontario ruled that ‘there can be no reasonable expectation of privacy online' while dealing with a case allowing police officers to obtain any individual's name, address and other details from the IP addresses alone WITHOUT a search warrant. (So much for Data Privacy Day) but isn't it completely violating to know that your ISP will blatantly share you browsing details, and other information we keep leaving online with other companies and that there is nothing you can do to stop them, or even know if and when they collect this information? 

It's true - your ISP has complete access to everything you send or receive online. Of course, they may not be actually doing it, but potentially they form the biggest danger to internet users all over the world - this according to a Law School Prof in Colorado, Paul Ohms. According to him, "ISPs pose a much greater threat to privacy than other online entities and they even pose a greater threat than offline institutions as well, including doctors, psychiatrists, and lawyers." And there are two factors contributing to this: deep packet inspection technology and methods and increasing pressure from the companies and online marketers. 

Recall, Webwise by Phorm - the technology that offers ISPs the option of showing targeted ads to their subscribers based on their preferences (by knowing what they do online) and it's only a matter of time before sophisticated technology comes into the picture and your ISP will snoop around your private data. However, law makers are on the side of the consumers so far, with one US Court of Appeals in Columbia denying a petition by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association to override the privacy rules that they are bound by which makes it difficult for them to share subscribers personal info with third parties. Thank God for that! 

Proxy servers can do a lot more than just keep your privacy with you. Of course, all the other things it can do stem from that basic function; but it's just that this particular feature can actually be put to various uses and advantages - one of which is downloading faster, especially with torrents.

Anyone who's a full-on downloader online knows of torrents and how they get you the best of movies and music and television shows, mostly for free. However, something most users know or don't know is that your ISP is not really very happy about you being so happy. That's because anyone downloading huge files via torrents are hogging the bandwidth, meaning less traffic for them potentially. And since it's the "almighty" ISP, he can see very well what it is that you're downloading and from where. Therefore when initially you'll see speeds soaring to 125 kbps, it will eventually come down to 25 kbps, and you'll be wondering what happened. Well your ISP happened. He just throttled your connection.  

Most BitTorrent clients offer an encoding option to ‘mask' the data that you send and receive via the torrent in order to let you get away with high speed at the cost of your ISP's bandwidth. However, ISP's have become smarter and these tricks don't seem to work anymore. Therefore proxy servers come to your aid. You will find quite a few torrent clients that act as proxy servers themselves. These pass their IP address as yours, so it actually seems like they're downloading and not you and thus your speed stays pretty good. Then there are third party proxy servers which you could use for downloading torrents. These work in the same way that browsing proxies work.  

You could go in for the torrent client-cum-proxy server, but there's a very good chance you might have to download a program onto your comp, and if you're not sure then you really shouldn't go ahead with it. Third party proxy servers, on the other hand seem pretty safe. You could try out a few and then stick with what you think is the best.  

If Phorm had its way, it could really be revolutionizing the way we use the internet. The only catch - it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine whether this change is going to be good or not. Phorm, a Delaware based digital technology firm has developed a new way in which advertising on the internet will take place - thus making internet the most lucrative medium for advertising. However, consumer forums, NGOs and the vanguards of the web are concerned about the ramifications it may have for online privacy.

Phorm has developed a technology called Webwise - which will be offered directly to your Internet Service Provider. According to the Phorm website, this technology provides the users safety from fake ‘phishing' websites. Webwise will detect and warm users when a website is suspected of ‘phishing'. However, the real bone of contention is its advertising technology. Webwise has developed a way in which ISPs will now be able to detect and track users' online behavior in order to send them targeted advertisements. This means the technology will have to know everything about a user in order to effectively show ads of products that the user will be interested in. Imagine walking on a street where shop fronts, kiosks, bill boards automatically change to show products that you would like. Freaky, isn't it? It's as good as someone getting into your head. 

Phorm guarantees this technology does not in any way store any personal, confidential or sensitive information, since that is the way its technology is designed. It is completely legal, conforming to UK laws and according to the website has been developed in accordance with the policies of the Information Commissioner's Office. However to anyone who's ever had an email account hacked into, it's going to seem like a lot of hogwash. Thankfully, due to the efforts of a lot of active internet and consumer communities, end users have the freedom to ‘Opt In' for a trial period. Previously there was only an ‘Opt Out' option. Phorm is yet to launch itself fully, and when it does, proxy servers will only get better and much more in demand. 

 

It might surprise you to know how much information about you is going out even when you perform a simple task like using a search engine. In the previous post, there was a mention of cookies, and nobody loves cookies more than search engines. Cookies are how search engines can track your behavior on the internet and this info is mighty useful for marketing purposes. Now we cannot deny how useful search engines really are, but exactly how much privacy are we willing to lose over them?

The answer to these questions may very well be in the form of proxy servers which hide your IP address, thereby making it impossible for a server, any server, to figure out where exactly you are on the internet. Simplified: if the search engine can't locate your computer, it definitely cannot send you a cookie. For those who find using proxy servers a little too ‘techie' you can try many features available in some of the browsers and search engines. 

Ixquick, a popular Dutch meta-search engine offers you complete privacy over the internet by not storing your IP address on their servers, thereby not sending you cookies at all. Most search engines save cookies on your computer for at least 3 months, but Ixquick has always been deleting cookies within 48 hours. As of late, Ixquick no longer needs to store cookies at all on the browser. Thus, Ixquick is quite a safe choice when you're looking up sensitive information and quite important too when your kids are browsing. 

Ixquick is also the first search engine to offer such privacy to its users and won the EuroPrivacy Award in 2008. However, the privacy lasts only between the PC you're searching from and the Ixquick server. The moment you click on any of the search results, you are now connected to their server, and thus no longer private. Thus, if you're looking at really sophisticated protection, then thus far proxy servers seem to be the best bet. And for the technically-challenged they've become quite simple now. 

 

 

1. Giving out any more personal details than absolutely necessary is "madness". You might have to give out certain details while creating an account with an email client, but otherwise, keep personal details like Name, Address, etc with you. It is recommended to give out fake names and addresses on websites you will use only once. Similarly, it is wise to create a separate email account which acts like a pseudonym that you use when filling up forms.
2. Making online payment transactions is a big deal. Whether you like it or not, the website stores your credit card information, because it has to. Therefore only use very trusted websites while buying or selling.
3. Install good antivirus software and scan the computer everyday. Scanning is essential every singly day so that any spyware, adware or malware will be detected in time. Antivirus software allows you to schedule scans and updates. Ensure you do both regularly, ideally everyday.
4. If using MS Windows, go to Start > Control Panel > Firewall and ensure the firewall is turned on. Firewall screens all incoming internet connections (all those tiny updates and messages you keep getting). The firewall will also have an ‘Exceptions' tab. This tab allows you to make exceptions for all those internet connections you want to receive. For example, if you use iTunes and want to avail of updates whenever possible, you can make an exception for iTunes. Windows Vista has much more advanced security options.
5. A lot of the data you send and receive over the internet is stored on your hard drive in a folder called temporary files. Mostly these files are cookies, which are saved by the websites you visit on your computer. Although not dangerous they do imply a little security threat since they contain information about you and what you did on your visits on a particular website. Therefore, periodically, it is recommended to delete all items in this folder.
   

Most people think that online privacy can be achieved largely through antivirus, anti malware, anti spyware and a lot of other ‘anti' software. However, there is an aspect of internet privacy that's quite simple, and yet overlooked - and that's your browser. In fact this option is even more important while maintaining online privacy as you may be using a shared computer, workplace computer or even a computer in a public place such as an internet café, where you might not have any data to protect on your PC, but you will have to protect data that you send. At such times, you really don't have the privilege of installing anything, but a little check on the browser will go a long way.

So here are the things you need to look out for. Nearly all of the tinkering can be done via the ‘Options' tab under the ‘Tools' menu in most browsers like Mozilla Firefox, IE (Internet Explorer) and Safari. Google Chrome however, has only one ‘Settings' button (actually shaped like a spanner) and the ‘Options' below it. Click through to this tab and fiddle around with the following: 

1. Auto Complete options: Google chrome doesn't have this feature yet, but IE and Firefox do. Turn this option off. If left on, it will allow you to see everything that has have been typed in the browser previously and will give others after you the same benefit. Which means your email ID, and other fields like name and address, could become public property.
2. Remembering passwords: Turn this option off as well, for obvious reasons.
3. If sending sensitive emails from a shared or public computer, allow encryption of the emails. Look for this option in the privacy or security option.
4. On a PC, look for options that disallow third party cookies. This is easily found in Firefox. Go to Tools > Options > Security and disallow third party cookies. In Chrome go to ‘Settings' (Spanner shaped icon) > Options > under the hood. In IE go to Tools > Internet Options > Privacy. Restricting third party cookies is the most important aspect of maintaining online privacy.
5. At the same place, you will find a way to delete Temporary files - something you might want to do after you're done with your internet session on a shared or public computer and periodically on your PC.
6. MOST IMPORTANT: On a public or shared PC, once you're done with the browsing, ensure that you clear browsing data. This option will be available directly under the Tools menu in Firefox (Clear private data); under the spanner button in Chrome; and in the ‘Clear History' button found in Tools > Internet Options > General in IE.

Reading the statistics for identity theft over the past couple of years leaves you with the blueprint for what you must do to protect yourself in the upcoming year(s). The statistics that were released in 2008 should show you what is happening online and therefore the need for real precautions when it comes to our transactions on the internet. If you are doing business online, as many people are, or you use personal information in any sphere on the Internet, what can you do to protect yourself?

There was a twenty one percent increase in the number of consumer fraud and identity theft complaints between 2006 and 2007. This information was a part of the statistics that were released during the 2008 year by the Federal Trade Commission. There was also a loss of more than one billion dollars from these complaints during that same time frame. Even more devastating were the statistics that sixty five percent of victims did not file a police report. Of the remaining victims, twenty seven filed an accepted police report while eight percent tried to file a report that was not accepted by the police. 

One thing is very clear from these findings and that is that victims are not fighting back. The lack of real reporting on these crimes can only encourage the thieves to continue their practice of stealing your money. If you have been the victim of identity theft, it is imperative that you report the crime, not only to catch the criminals, but to serve as a warning to others who may fall victim to the very same crime. 

Pay attention to reports of identity theft and scams that are distributed online. The more aware we all are the more difficult it is for thieves to conduct their business. There are a number of businesses that will help you protect your identity and keep watch over your financial information. Make use of these services and watch your credit report and information very carefully. At the first sign that someone is using your name or financial information for their own purposes, report it. We must improve on those statistics for 2009 and put the thieves on notice that they will not have the cover of darkness any longer.