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Why Use A Proxy Website

By: Wayne Cutforth

One of the primary reasons people want to use a proxy is to get around blocked content that may contain some words that their network filter has identified as inappropriate. Many organisations make use of filters so that they can control how and what is viewed over their network. They usually do this to stop employees looking sites that are unrelated to their job description or to simply stop them from viewing inappropriate material. This is usually achieved by the use of keywords that is programmed into the web filter. The filter will simply block any web pages or site that contains these particular key words.

Although this may not necessarily block access to various websites that are job unrelated, they can also switch on access to pages and glossaries that are helpful in their job positions regardless of whether the key word is present or not. Filters these days are becoming ever ore sophisticated as the means to bypass web filters and get around network blocks are increasing and causing problems for networks.

If an employee of a company, or a student at a college, finds their Internet access blocked in some way they may choose to use a proxy website to get around this problem. Proxies are independent and the organisation cannot impose network restrictions outside of their network. As a proxy site does not take much longer than using a simple browser window, it is far quicker than calling technical support and trying to get authorization to remove specific sites from filter lists. This would be very time consuming and would thus cause problems and prevent the employees or students progressing with their work.

Some nations also use content filters to block their residents or citizens from finding certain information or material on the Internet that is not approved by their government or regime of power. Residents of such nations routinely use good proxy sites to access news and information from the outside world. Another good advantage of using proxies is that the IP address and other details of the user is not logged. This helps to make sure that the user can retain a degree of anonymity and privacy.

Websites that you visit online routinely record and log certain information about you and can even build up a profile of your surfing habits. The scary thing is that I or you do not know what they do with that information. Certain pieces of information is not a problem but some are, especially as websites are getting more sophisticated at tracing you and recording whatever details they do. The information that is recorded and stored and what they do with it varies from website to website. The most common pieces of information that are stored are your IP address, browser type, geographical location, your ISP, MAC address, referring site or webpage and many others. This is just a small list of what they can record about you.

I hope you have found this article useful and can used what has been discussed here to increase your awareness of the present problems on the Internet and how you can use a proxy site to tackle some of these problems. Enjoy your surfing.

Article Source: http://www.bluearticles.com


The author lives in UK and has his own proxy website offering free tips and reviews on some good products. You are welcome to take a look here if you like. I hope you like the site and find it helpful.