Expert: Keith Davis - 4/2/2009

Question
Hi Keith- if I'm using the internet (I have a laptop running Windows XP) at a public WiFi spot and I visit someone's webpage or a particular internet site, is there a way the webpage owner or internet site could tell that I visited - via some kind of foot print left by my computer (i.e. does using a public WiFi spot hide my computer's identity in any way)?  Would a program such as Hotspot Shield (www.hotspotshield.com) help in keeping me anonymous?  
Thanks very much! Rob

Answer
Yes, they will know you have visited because of your IP address. I could go into a big long explanation about how to surf anonymously but I am not a great teacher when it comes to stuff like that. What I can do is steer you in the right direction with some things to google. What you need to be looking for is proxy servers, anonymous proxy servers, and anonymous surfing. There will be several paid programs but there are also anonymous proxies that are free to surf but will not allow you to check email or internet chat or post on message boards.
There is also a free program that will allow you to do anything on the internet and use a proxy server. It is called OperaTor.

I will attempt to explain an anonymous proxy server. When you surf the internet and visit a site. The server the site is hosted on logs your IP address. Every computer has a unique IP address. The administrator of the site can trace your computer by the IP address at least back to your ISP (internet service provider). With a proxy server the site you visit through the proxy only sees the IP of the proxy server and not your IP.

If I can help in any other way let me know.
Keith