It is an
all too common misconception that anonymity equals privacy. Anonymity
and privacy may be related, but their significance is worlds apart.
Do you
wonder what other people know about you? A good starting point is:
There are
hundreds of web-based email services that appear to offer anonymity.
Few really do. These include names such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Excite,
Pobox, Dejanews, and too many more to list here. In each of these
cases, the user is allowed to create a pseudonym that he uses
for his messages. Unfortunately, through sign-up procedures, logging,
and message headers, it is amazingly simple to determine your
ISP, and even your true identity, when you use these services.
For the
obvious reason, there is no point in wasting space dealing with
those types of services. Instead, we'll try to provide information
on methods that offer at least a degree of anonymity. As the user,
it is your responsibility to know that your internet anonymity
is only as secure as the service's privacy policy. You should
always familiarize yourself with the usage and privacy policies
of any E-mail or internet service you consider using.
THE
best means to insure e-mail and usenet anonymity remains the remailer
network. There are some trade-offs, but used properly, there is
no way a user can be identified. Using any search engine, enter
the keyword 'remailer' to begin learning about the remailer network.
If you want to use the remailer network today, get QuickSilver.
This is an absolutely great ap which makes remailer use as easy
as it gets.
