If the company you’re working for is anything like where I used to work, I’m guessing that you are only able to access select websites from your office computer. While I am all for productivity and efficiency for the organization’s welfare, I am also for a bit of fun time to get my mind off work for a short while. I think that it’s just wrong to keep people from accessing their web-based email like Hotmail, flash games from Yahoo’s site and http://MySpace.com. Specially http://MySpace.com. Blocking these sites should be a crime. I mean, we are responsible adults and we do value the company’s time and money, right? I am assuming that we all answered yes. I for one refused to be caged in my cubicle with a restricted Internet connection. After a few tries to circumvent the system, I finally came across one that was painless to use and is readily available because no installation or settings configuration was needed.

Web based proxies are websites that enable you to go around firewalls thereby permitting you to enter sites that are being blocked. It is easy enough to look for a free Internet proxy and it is even simpler to use them. After locating a web-based proxy site, all you have to do is enter the URL of the site that you wish to visit in the provided space, usually a rectangular box not unlike the ones found in search engines. Voila! Say hello to http://MySpace.com or eBay right in front of your own workstation in the office or any other place where website access is actively being limited. Your company’s IT administrator can block one or two of these Internet based proxies, but it is virtually impossible to block all of them unless they block everything from coming in or out. In that case, there’s no reason for even having an Internet service.

Before I am branded a hooligan for sidestepping company policies, I would like to talk about the more essential use of proxy websites. Going through set boundaries in cyberspace is not the primary function of these sites but concealing your IP address from prying eyes is. Along that line, no one will be able to make a profile of you by using your online comings and goings as a basis. With your naked IP address, malicious individuals or marketing groups will be able to track your Internet habits and use it to gather information about you. Now we all know how frustrating and annoying unwanted product offers are. Using a proxy will make sure that you won’t be leaving any virtual footsteps behind for anyone to follow. Privacy is the primary objective in using a proxy service when you’re browsing websites. A proxy makes you anonymous because it acts as a buffer between you and everything else out there. When you request for or receive data off some site, it first passes through the slack that the proxy acts as and that’s what stops people from getting information about you. In effect, nobody will even know of your presence.