Client PC ---> Proxy ----> Internet Website


Assuming you are connecting to the internet via a shared proxy, which would be better to maintain your anonymity, HTTP/Socks/VPN or are all 3 similar?

I see proxy websites offering the 3 choices. Would it be normal practice for such websites to internally keep track of the traffic from the Client PC to the Proxy so in effect, you really have no anonymity when using any service?

ie. Can a website easily force a proxy service to give up records on client traffic or depending on the type of proxy, are there no such records.

Hope this post made sense. Thanks.

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Kind of like lawyer client privilege????

I guess what I'm getting at is that all proxy services will still maintain records of your activity on the server right? So a proxy may be good at superficially faking an IP, but there really is no anonymity unless you use something like Tor?

HTTP proxies: proxies specially created for website browsing, they can lead to higher performance and they are not suited for most other stuff (so usually only HTTP and SSL)
http proxies come in various anonymity variants.
SOCKS: a general proxy protocol that can be used for everything, it's pretty raw so do not expect increased performance but it's flexible
VPN: a fat protocol to interconnect different networks, it's abused as proxy type. VPNs will route your computer traffic through the server (so no more config is required) VPNs require a lot CPU compared to a proxy because they encrypt the connection.

HTTP/SOCKS proxies will help you to be more flexible and change IPs on the fly, VPNs provide encryption and you don't have to configure applications as all is routed once you are connected.

In most cases I'd go for a normal proxy.

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As far as log files are concerned, it is possible to track down the real users of the proxy if there is a system abuse. Imagine someone committing CC FRAUD using a proxy... This can be tracked back to the original user IP if required as all proxy providers maintains a log to prevent abuse..

Technically, there is no way to stay really anonymous... Even TOR can be traced back...

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Tor/Cloakfish can't really be traced back.
There are some theoretical attacks that CAN make it possible to trace it back but in reality tor is secure.

Thank you this has been a helpful discussion.

DW

I have a related question. I went to a couple of proxy site, downloaded a fresh list, tested it and filtered my list. And within minutes, some of the proxies were anon, and then not anymore.
Are those lists from those types of sites (PF and so on) garbage? Is paying for a list better?
Also, when I entered it into a site that let's me check my IP...it said "proxy detected" and then it had the proxy ip and then my real ip listed.
I want to be able to access social sites anonymously, but it looks like I HAVE to have cookies enabled. Will I be anonymous with cookies? Can I get around this somehow?
Thanks for your time.