Anonymous Web Proxy Shields Political Activists Online
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) July 09, 2013 -- idcloak’s free anonymous web proxy enables its user to reach sites without leaving a digital footprint either on the site itself or on intermediary servers. The release comes too late for the seven Saudi political activists who, just days ago, Human Rights Watch said were sentenced to between 5 and 10 years for publishing calls to protest on Facebook (Human Rights Watch. 7 Convicted for Facebook Postings about Protests, June 30, 2013).
Lead censorship researcher, Robin Welles, introduces the importance of the proxy release to activists around the world, “The internet is a double-edged sword where political activism is concerned: it is true that it empowers the people, enabling them to spread ideas and orchestrate political movements. But unfortunately the web has become just as much an instrument of oppressive regimes themselves. Traditionally, they would block social media sites that were used to incite trouble, now many of them prefer to keep the sites open so that protester ringleaders can be identified.”
The anonymous web proxy is of the high-anonymity type, which means no record of the user’s IP address is left on web mail, messages or tweets. The service also operates as a free SSL proxy: several built-in encryption options make sure the user’s online activity is not intercepted en route from the remote proxy servers.
Welles says, nonetheless, using a proxy alone is not enough to guarantee safety.
“As the recent spate of arrests in Saudi Arabia showed us, Facebook and Twitter are dangerous places for activists to work unless special care is taken. Some thought and planning is needed. A protester can follow certain privacy protocols to set up an anonymous Facebook account. Once done, as long as they always access that profile through an SSL web proxy and regularly change up the proxy IP addresses they use, it will be very difficult for the authorities to trace their social media activity.”
For more about idcloak’s work in delivering freedom, safety and protection on the internet, visit http://www.idcloak.com.
Written by Gill-Chris Welles
Gill-Chris Welles, idcloak Technologies Inc., http://www.idcloak.com, 786-210-9280, [email protected]
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