How To Surf the Internet Anonymously

As Kelly referred to in his last post, anonymity online is not an absolute truth. If you do something really stupid and bad, the people in power (aka, the government) will eventually find you. And in my opinion, that's not actually that horrible if you think about it.

Nevertheless, if you're looking for some privacy from your parents or your significant other or the office or your school, there are a few methods --some stronger than others. In this post, I will detail the few methods I know, from easiest to most difficult (also weakest to strongest).

Method #1 - Install the TrackMeNot Firefox Add-On

This is the easiest and most hands-free method. Install it here.

TrackMeNot is a lightweight browser extension that helps protect web searchers from surveillance and data-profiling by search engines. It does so not by means of concealment or encryption (i.e. covering one's tracks), but instead, paradoxically, by the opposite strategy: noise and obfuscation. With TrackMeNot, actual web searches, lost in a cloud of false leads, are essentially hidden in plain view. User-installed TrackMeNot works with the Firefox Browser and popular search engines (AOL, Yahoo!, Google, and MSN) and requires no 3rd-party servers or services.

TrackMeNot will simply sit in the background of your browsing experience, sending random requests to popular search engines that log the searches of each of their users. For example, mine is sending a request for "Local Sporting Events" right now. So since Google is logging everything I'm searching for, "Local Sporting Events" will be mixed in with everything I'm actually searching for, leaving a cloud of confusion. All my real searches are still in their logs, but they are mixed in with many others --making me less predictable in their eyes.

Method #2 - Surf the Internet Using CGI/Web Proxies

This method will allow you to surf the Internet without leaving any information about what browser you're using, which computer system you have, where you live, your IP address, etc., etc. How this method works is, you enter in the URL of the site you wish to visit, and the CGI/Web Proxy will retrieve it for you, not giving that website any of your information. How nice, right?

Since websites do log their visits, your information simply won't be listed there.

Here's a quick list of available CGI/Web Proxies that I know of:

• Public CGI (Web, PHP) anonymous proxy free list - uses a list of several proxies and randomizes which you'll be using each time. Neat.


• Box of Prox


• Guardster


• Proxify

Method #3 - Download, Install, and Configure TOR

This is somewhat complicated, but it's the best free solution I know. Download the Tor Bundle here. The Tor Bundle will include Tor, Vidalia (a GUI for Tor), Privoxy (a filtering web proxy), and Torbutton --all ready to work together.

After installing the Tor Bundle, Vidalia will have also installed for you the Torbutton Firefox Add-On, so all you will need to do is restart your Firefox. But if you're using something other than Firefox, see here.

Now check to make sure Tor and Vidalia are running.

And check this site to make sure it's all running correctly.

Now let's change our IP Address. Go to C My IP, and you'll see your IP Address along with your location. Scary. Now right-click on the blue Tor icon and change your IP Address. Refresh that site. Are you in Russia now? England? Pretty cool.

For most people, this Tor Bundle is enough. But make sure to read the warnings --as simply installing the application is not enough to ensure (almost) complete privacy. Like I said, this method is not single step.

Furthermore, Tor can also work with most other applications --like email or instant messaging.

To Torify other applications that support HTTP proxies, just point them at Privoxy (that is, localhost port 8118). To use SOCKS directly (for instant messaging, Jabber, IRC, etc), you can point your application directly at Tor (localhost port 9050), but see this FAQ entry for why this may be dangerous. For applications that support neither SOCKS nor HTTP, take a look at SocksCap or FreeCap. (FreeCap is free software; SocksCap is proprietary.)

For information on how to Torify other applications, check out the Torify HOWTO.

Addendum - Always Clear Your Browsing History!

Like the rest of this post, I'm using Firefox. If you're using anything else, I'm sure synonyms of Tools and Privacy will work.

1. In your Firefox Menu, select Tools.


2. Select Options...


3. Go to the Privacy tab.


4. In the Private Data section, click Clear Now...


5. Go ahead and clear you Browsing History, Saved Form and Search History, Cache, Cookies, and Authenticated Sessions. Or any combination, really. The more you clear, the less of a footprint you're leaving.


6. Click OK.

These are the methods I'm aware of. Let us know in the comments any others you've been using.

JuicyCampus.com, Anonymity, and (Fake) School Shootings

This story was picked up by CNN: "Student arrested after threats to attack campus"

I arrived back from the "Altstadt" in Düsseldorf, Germany, last night to an email and an AIM message. The email was from LMU and was not a routine test of the emergency broadcast system. It was warning me that there could be a school shooting today. The administration had got wind of an anonymous post on the juvenile gossip site, JuicyCampus.com [with no hyperlink for a reason].

JuicyCampus.com boasts itself as an anonymous forum for students to voice their opinions and gossips about their school in particular. The current top posts on the site for LMU are: "People are so stupid I can't even begin," "Hottest female teacher?" and "Too many blacks/mexicans?" On December 8, one student from LMU--struck by a stroke of genius--posted the following comment yesterday on JuicyCampus:

"I am going to shoot and kill as many people as I can until which time I am incapacitated or killed by the police.Posted Saturday, December 8, on the LMU page of JuicyCampus.com

Given that the Virginia Tech shootings happened less than a year ago, the administration acted on this and brought in the LAPD and put its emergency messaging system to use. From what I can gather an ocean away, the campus shut down and a score of coppers were drifted about LMU's bluff over Los Angeles.

The (alleged) student that made the threat, although JuicyCampus.com promises anonymity to all users, was tracked down and arrested. We'll see what happens to him in the mean time.

The important issue here for your Sunday contemplation is the promise (and power) of anonymity. Students can rant wherever they wish: blogs, MySpace, Facebook, or JuicyCampus.com... Threats, while cathartic and a joke to some, often make those in power positions "flip out." Since April 16 of last year, I would rather have an overreaction. JuicyCampus.com, the disgusting Web 2.0 fad site that it is, prides itself on keeping all posts anonymous:

It is not possible for anyone to use this website to find out who you are or where you are locatedJuicyCampus.com Privacy Policy Page

Shame on you, JuicyCampus. Not only does the site encourage inane rantings, but it also promises anonymity in a world where that is proven time and time again that that is not the case. The power of anonymity is a steel, ego-crushing sword for most people. (Who hasn't created a fake profile for some web site in their life?) With anonymity, you can call someone ugly on Facebook or post the word "poop" on her MySpace.

So today while you're sipping on coffee studying for finals, please don't think your actions on the net are ever anonymous just because a site promises it. Even Safari's "Private Browsing" is only good enough for face-saving while browsing for porn. Maybe we'll write a post in the next coming days on how to completely browse anonymously. There is a time and place for such a thing.

But in the meantime, please don't threaten to shoot up your school.

IE Tab: Never Launch the Internet Explorer Browser Again!

It sounds crazy, but there are some sites on the Internet that still don't play nicely with Firefox (ahem, MTV2). Why?!

But instead of launching Internet Explorer on top of your favorite browser, get the Firefox add-on IE Tab. It will embed the IE engine within Firefox.

So if you're visiting a website with videos that just won't load with Firefox, right-click and switch rendering engine. It will reload everything IE-style.

Install it here: IE Tab

The Easiest Way to Get Those Coupon Codes

Are you buying all your gifts this holiday season online? If so, the new Firefox add-on from popular site RetailMeNot is a Godsend, made especially for you. Install it here.

RetailMeNot offers an easy way to search for coupon codes from several online stores (e.g., Amazon, Victoria's Secret, Kohl's, Best Buy, Dell, and many others). So as you surf these stores, the RetailMeNot Firefox add-on will deliver the X number of coupons it has available right to your browser window. Thanks, guys.

Finals Roundup

Finals are upon everyone not studying abroad. Chris and I over in Dusseldorf are busting our balls making our thesis films, though. Here's a roundup of all things finals related to gear you up for the next week:

• Study Music: Groove Salad [HackCollege]


• Early Exam: Breakfast or No Breakfast? [HackCollege]


• Before an Exam: Get a Good Night's Rest [HackCollege]


• Don't Sleep Through an Early Morning Exam! [HackCollege]


• Finals Prep Roundup [Lifehacker]


• Tips to Make Your Finals/Papers a Little Bit Better [GearFire]

We wish everyone the best of luck for finals week!

We're on iTunes!

One of the biggest criticisms of the podcast thus far has been our lack of iTunes availability. Well, we just submitted ourselves and were just approved! So tell all your friends to navigate to the iTunes Music Store and subscribe to our podcast:

Subscribe to the HackCollege podcast using iTunes:

HackCollege Podcast Episode 11: We're Podcasting!

After a slight delay, the team is back with a new episode and some big announcements! We've hit the iTunes scene! And we've got new intro song! Check out the music section of this post for more info!

This week's topics are:

• Podcasts we like: Diggnation; Totally Rad Show; Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me; Cranky Geeks; WineLibraryTV; anything NPR


• New Show Music


• Adult Swim Contest Wrap-up


• Animoto


• Christmas Gifts


• Christmas Shopping

This week's music:

• "Date Game" by Christopher Wade

31 Million Visitors Later, MIT Finishes Putting Its Entire Course Catalog Online

Why go to college if you don't even have to any more? The world-renowned MIT has put its entire class catalog online under the moniker MIT OpenCourseWare. Sure you won't get professorial feedback or fire-under-your-ass lighting, but the information's there.

It's foolish to assume that you'll be able to teach yourself enough material to earn a degree, but we're suggesting that you double-check your notes in a crunch. If your own professor doesn't put his or her notes online, then you might be able to find some overlap in the MIT OpenCourseWare catalog. And I don't care which school you go to, MIT probably knows better.

• So read the article: An MIT Education is Now Just a Click Away [Boston.com via digg]


• ... and then start skipping physical class: MIT OpenCourseWare