Every mother and father can relate to the concern you feel for your child whenever they do something potentially dangerous. Some parents bubble-wrap their kids on their first bike rides so that when they fall, they simply create a bunch of noisy popping noises, rather than a sizable bruise. Any parent with a child involved in sports can also relate with this fear; are they going to be safe? Imagine your youngest son is going to play tackle football for the first time, and you look around and see the other kids seem to be a bit bigger than him. So you buy him a super-padded helmet, a tight pair of cleats, and a bunch of shoulder padding to make sure he isn’t hurt on a tackle. When he goes out to play, you watch nervously from the sidelines, and watch him like a hawk. While football is inherently a violent sport, gymnastics is not. Imagine your youngest daughter up on the balance beam, about to do a back flip, but looks like she is about to fall. Bells and instinctual alarms are going off in your head; “I have to help her!” You are to late, she jumps and…. Perfect landing. The judges hold up 9, 10, 9, 10. “Nine!” you think. What was he thinking?

While these are all things that every parent worries over, possible their biggest worry is the one they know the least; the Internet. The Internet is overall an incredible and helpful tool. Ten years ago, when a child was assigned a book report on Shakespeare, they had to travel down to their local library and scuttle up and down the aisles looking for the specific book they needed, and maybe even ask the feared austere librarian. Nowadays, lackadaisical high school students can hit their power buttons, do a quick Google search, misspell “Shakespeer”, click the “Did you mean Shakespeare?” box, and be on their way to the rest of their report. Sometimes, there are sites out there that offer to write reports for you for a minimal fee. Everything can be done online these days; some people don’t even leave their house to get their groceries, they just log on, order online, and have them delivered! The Internet isn’t all fun and games though.

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Privacy International (From here out known as PI) is a site that serves as a “watchdog” of privacy and surveillance invasions. Verbatim from their mission statement, you know they are intense and zealous about personal privacy.

Basically, this organization monitors and keeps an eye on things that keep an eye on us, and if they step out of line, PI is there to put them back in their place. In addition to that, they hope to educate Internet goers about the dangers and precautions they need to take in their virtual homes. They also do independent research on emerging technologies and how these can be utilized to bolster the protection of individuals. They even go to different legislative bodies throughout the world and make different presentations and try to spark reform.

All of this is accomplished by a vast website that holds all of the information pertinent to their ideology and concerns. Upon entrance of the site, you instantly see articles and other sections devoted to happenings in the now around the globe related to privacy and surveillance. If you are looking to research a particular subject or area of concern, there is a convenient box in the left side of the screen that meticulously sorts all articles of a particular subject and arranges them in a neat, easy-to-access fashion. Let’s say you are interested in the fight against terrorism and new developments in it, there is a news column titled “Anti-Terrorism” that is just what you need, and there are many more for a myriad of subjects.

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You have seen the evidence all around you; friends telling you about phishing e-mail scams, credit card fraud, or perhaps you have experienced it yourself. Everyone has seen the CitiBank advertisements portraying two elderly woman identity theft victims as the two rough talkin’, dirt bike boys who stole their identities. The zeitgeist of today is being protected online, as all of these identity and fraud worries come from careless online travel. The Internet is a wonderful place and a great resource, but criminals lurk here and attack blissful individuals. They don’t go for the ones who are protected because they know they can’t get them, so why not become protected today?

As people have become more aware of their online activities and made strides to protect themselves, the criminals have followed suit. Although criminals are often pegged as uneducated and ignorant, they certainly have to watch what their prey does and match or out-match it. Many people flock to a free web-based IP changer to remain anonymous and surf privately. While they have noble intentions, sometimes they are making a grave mistake.

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FBHive is a new site started by a couple of young bohemians who are self-proclaimed “social networking addicts.” The site will feature upcoming news, events, and the spectrum of opinions about FaceBook and networking in general. Launched to a large audience and with many visitors, the site has found out and revealed a programming bug that allows unregistered users and other who would normally be blocked to access these seemingly secure profiles.

For those who are not into the whole networking social Internet scene, here is FaceBook Security 101: When setting up a profile, the site warns you not to disclose too much personal information because it will be on the Internet for everyone to see. Most FaceBook veterans will tell you that they only put in totally fictitious information so that no one can find any private information out about them, but most people ignore this step, and want to put their whole lives out for everyone to see, so they head for the privacy options. By making a profile private, only users whom the owner deems as friends (which are either invited or approved by the subject of the page) can view their page. All other interlopers and non-friends are blocked from the site with a friendly reminder: “This is a private page, only the users friends are able to view it.”

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Internet television remains one of the most unique and novel concepts deriving from current multimedia advancements. In the past, if we wished to watch a television program you we limited to what aired on your local cable provider’s offerings. Now, thanks to the internet, it is possible to access to literally hundreds of channels all over the globe. So, no matter what type of programming you are interested in, you can surely find it easily online.

Why does this interest me? Let the truth be told: I am an avid television watcher. I am also an avid traveler as well. In the past, traveling to another city could sometimes lead to missing my favorite programs and channels. For example, I once went on a cruise only to discover the cabin’s satellite hookup only carried a limited number of news channels. Since these were not the news channels, I usually watched I decided to plug in my laptop and watch my favorite channel’s news stream on the internet.

However, a problem developed? When I tried to access the stream, I discovered the access was blocked. Apparently, the waterways I was traveling in were under the jurisdiction of a nation that BLOCKS access to that particular channel. To say I was annoyed would be a minor understatement. I felt inconvenienced and cheated. Mostly, I felt as if my viewing habits were censored. I wish I had known about change IP proxies back then. I could have viewed my favorite channel without any hassles or restrictions.

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Every college student in the U.S. gripes about the same general stuff; annoying roommates, tough classes, piles of homework, and expensive tuitions. The meme “broke like a college student” didn’t write itself. What you don’t hear them complain about however is their Internet quality. Oftentimes these students come home and search for a quick summary of a book they read, (or perhaps more likely, didn’t) research a popular historical figure for a biography, or just kick back and chat with friends. Some are even brazen enough to waste class time playing games while the teacher is droning on about some subject they don’t care about. While the last one is not a good example of Internet use, to each his own. Imagine not being able to do any of these things, and if you tried, jail time or a hefty fine could be the repercussions.

First we’ll discuss Chinese surveillance, as this is the most prevalent and infamous aspect of their e-dictatorship. As freedom is a luxury we often take for granted in the U.S. and other democratic countries, Internet police seem  like a funny cliché that would appear in an action movie. In fact, they are not, and almost 30,000 are employed to monitor and possibly arrest offending citizens and other “criminals”.

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Some experts in the field of Internet Privacy are of the consensus that Internet Privacy doesn’t really exist.  How’s that for disturbing?

But, you have to look at it.  There are cookies, scripts, ISP logging, and other things going on the moment you open your browser, and they all collect information.  Whether the information is personal or collective, it’s being done at this very moment.  The frightening part about it is you never know what that information is being used for, or whom it is being sold to and for what reason.  This should be a matter of concern for anyone who uses the Internet on a regular basis.

What is the answer to protecting your Internet privacy as best you can?  Installing anonymous proxy software on your computer.  It’s the most secure way to surf the Internet.

Why Not to Use Online Proxy Servers

Online proxy servers seem convenient and easy to use, but they just aren’t safe.  You can’t be sure just how well they are covering your tracks and if the data you are sending over the net is being encrypted.  Most likely, if the proxy server you’re using is free, the data isn’t encrypted and available to anyone who has access to that server.  Isn’t that what you’re trying to avoid?

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Two subcommittees are conducting a thorough investigation into the controversial sales technique known as behavioral advertising. This is where advertisement agencies will actually scan and scrutinize a person’s browsing habits and send them advertisements that they feel will be tailored to the person’s needs.

Today, members of these committees are beginning preliminary drafts on a bill that will likely cut down on the freedom these advertisers have to analyze people’s records, and thusly, restrict their marketing demographic.

Google, FaceBook, and Yahoo remain rooted in their opposition to any bill that would limit these advertisers.

These companies praise the work that the Federal Trade Commission has done with this technology, and wouldn’t want it to be cut down. Privacy advocates such as the Center for Digital Democracy, insist that this software is invasive and compromises people’s Privacy Rights by scanning their histories with no permission or notification.

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