Do Proxy Servers Keep You Anonymous?

Icy Tales Team
7 Min Read

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Worried about your internet safety? If so, proxies can be the answer. In an era with rampant censorship and web monitoring, these servers ensure anonymity and security. Here’s how.

What are Anonymous Proxies? How Do They Work? 

Anonymous proxies are a great way to ensure security when browsing online. As suggested by the name, this tech works on the principle of substitution. Anonymous proxies, or just proxies, are thus primarily mediators between your internet protocol (IP) and web host.

Understanding IP Functions

You must be familiar with queries and requests to understand how this tech works. To illustrate, say you want to buy shoes online. For this, you will visit a fashion website on your internet browser. 

What you don’t know is that there is an ongoing exchange of data between your device and the destination site. For example, your system will have forwarded a request to the host to access the website. Included in this will be your IP address, which can be used to track the request’s origin. Simply put, the host website can use your IP to determine your general location.

However, you cannot simply refuse to hand over your IP information. Exchanging this data is crucial as the host website can only send the web page back to you if it knows your internet protocol address. In the process, they may also be able to access personal info about your user account.

How Proxies Work

As a result, your system may be prone to data breaches. Proxies eliminate this by acting as relay stations for your requests. When you use this tech, you are accessing servers stationed at various locations around the globe. These will be used to mediate all internet traffic on your behalf.

So when you send a request to check a website, your query will go to these servers first. The proxy will then forward the request to the web host. Moreover, your data will not be visible to the destination website with a proxy-based query. Instead, the host will see only the IP address of the proxy server.

Moreover, even the response from the target website will be forwarded to this server. Simply put, proxy servers help disguise your identity and keep your browsing anonymous. This tech relays all internet traffic on your behalf, ensuring that your IP address is not available to access by web hosts. 

Where to Use Proxy Servers 

Web anonymity is the primary advantage of proxy servers – however, it is not the only benefit. Aside from disguising your online activities, this tech can also be leveraged to 

Generate Quicker Responses 

Proxy servers can be used to counter slow internet speeds. So, if you frequently suffer from low bandwidth, this system can help you get faster browsing speeds. Moreover, good proxy servers also help cut back on data consumption.

This is because this system often uses data caching when relaying internet traffic. Caches are locally saved copies of websites stored on the servers. Anonymous proxies keep these versions of host sites in their system to improve data retrieval speeds. Caches are lighter and easier to access than the target website’s full version.

Because of this quality, the servers can produce faster results when you pose a query. For example, when you ask to access a particular website, the proxy will scan its system to see if it has a saved cache. This copy will have to be the latest version of the host site. The server will pose this result if available, offering faster response time. 

The cached version of the destination website is often offered to multiple users. A proxy will send one request to the website host and forward this result to all asking to visit this site. This system thus also cuts down on data consumption. You may also get a quicker response even in poor network areas. 

Bypass Geo-Blocked/Censored Content

Accessing blocked or censored content is one of the most common uses of proxies. This tech can override regional or federal restrictions simply and easily. Proxy servers are relay stations for your internet traffic. Simply put, they substitute their IP for your own. In the process, they help disguise the origin of the request.  

Based on this, proxies effortlessly help circumvent geo-blocks imposed by governments and organizations. For example, say you are in Austin, Texas, and want to watch a specific film. However, your streaming provider may be blocking your requests to access the same. A proxy helps overcome this restriction by making it look like the query is from a location where the content is available.  

Improve Browsing Security

Anonymous proxies are one of the best ways to browse the internet more privately. Aside from substituting your IP for theirs, these servers may alter the request’s identifying info. In doing these, proxies keep your address info private from the destination server. 

Added security is another benefit of using this tech. Disguising your IP helps protect your system from malware attacks. Configuring your server to encrypt your requests moreover prevents data breaches. For added protection, you can also pair a VPN with your proxy. Not only will such a setup provide added security but a VPN also increases the scope of your connections.

Many users also don’t realize that websites tend to log their queries. The web host saves your data whenever you send requests to a specific site/platform. Moreover, search engines and other platforms also store information from your search history. 

This data is then used to flood your feed with ads related to your queries. A proxy server helps bypass this by preventing sites from logging your requests. 

Last Updated on by Icy Tales Team

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