This post will be quite special to me in that I find this to be an invaluable tool in the fight for internet anonymity. The tool is called a proxy. A "proxy" is short for "proxy server" The meaning of a proxy is to talk to the proxy server and the server talks to the requested website in your stead. This means you don't have to show those watching your internet habits and uses what exactly you are looking at, because if they try to track you via the website then all they'll get is the proxy server. Here is a small diagram for a visual on what a proxy server is
As you can see, Charles doesn't actually ask Jonas what time it is, instead he asks the proxy, who then asks Jonas. One might think
why would anybody need such a thing? While the abuse potential for such a tool is high, the use for it can also be up there as well. What if someone was being watched or had sensitive information they wanted to reveal? This lets them communicate to others or servers without fear that others would know they were doing so. Do I use a proxy for some things? Yeah. But very very rarely. Would you ever use a proxy? Probably not ever in your life. Most typical end users will probably never know they exist.
Here is a small gif showing how a proxy can change someones "identity" on the web.
