How to Hide Your IP Address and Surf the Internet Anonymously

A computer's IP address tells a lot of information. Because of this many people prefer to hide their IP address and surf the internet anonymously. There are several reasons to want privacy, such as protecting children, online banking, safety concerns, domestic violence issues, and just the good old desire to remain anonymous. Here are some ways to hide your IP address and be anonymous while online.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• computer
• internet connection
• anonymous surfer program
• proxy server

1. Download one of the several anonymous surfing programs available on the internet. There are several that are free or have trial offers. A few are www.hidemyass.com, www.proxify.com, and www.privacyview.com. These programs hide your IP address by making it anonymous and routing it through proxies that change every 30 minutes, which means that every half hour your IP address changes.

2. Purchase a software program. There are software programs that will hide your IP address and enable you to anonymously surf the internet. Some of these are Hide-My-IP, GhostSurf, and Anonymous Surfing by Anonymizer. These products vary in price and some offer a free download trial offer. Keep trying the anonymous web surfing programs until you find the one that meets your needs.

3. Do your research about surfing the internet anonymously and hiding your IP address. Find out what your IP address says about you. Check and compare the features of each software program before you buy or download one. Think about why you want to hide your IP address or maintain your privacy while online when choosing a program.

4. Use a trusted anonymous surfing program. Talk with friends or family members to see what program they use, trust, and recommend. Hiding your IP address and maintaining personal privacy online is not illegal. You have the right to surf anonymously as long as you use the programs for legal purposes.

Tips & Warnings

• there are many reasons to want to hide yourself online, such as being able to be completely open and honest with asking medical questions in an online forum, or relationship questions if there are safety concerns
• these programs are meant to be used for legal purposes and not to commit crimes online or use to spam people
• anyone with enough skill can find you through your IP address or use it to exploit your information
• beware of hide your IP address internet scams

Resources

• Set up a site with LunarPages.
• How to make a website without building skills.
• How to Find the IP address on a computer.
• How to monitor internet use and email

[joshtb86]

on 3/11/2009 great information, im gonna use it

[Anelly]

on 2/2/2009 Good article. I'm using hide ip software to be able to watch specific videos that are blocked in my country.The problem with the most hide ip software is that are really slowing down your internet connection. At this moment i'm using IP Privacy (http://www.privacy-pro.com)and it works fine :)

[longhairqueen]

on 1/6/2009 Thank you-I need to try this.

[chava812]

on 12/28/2008 Well-written info about a valuable "tool" we should all know how to use (or how it can be used by others). Thanks for writing it!

[Devero]

on 12/23/2008 Good stuff - thanks.