AnonymoX 1.0 (firefox extension)

AnonymoX is an initiative for anonymization in the internet. The aim is to restore the users right of anonymity in the web.

Most websites monitor the behaviour of their users, giving the websites hosts the ability to analyze the general users behaviour and create detailed user profiles, which often times are sold to third parties.

A thread for the freedom of speech of the internet manifests in the repression through federal or private organizations.

More and more governments censor websites with the excuse of child safety, copyright infringement or the fight against terrorism and thereby limit the freedom of speech.

Also blocking users by based on their origin with GeoIP-Blocks is applied often, for example at Media platforms like YouTube.

With anonymoX your are able to bypass many sorts of blocks by jelling a virtual Identity in another Country with only a few mouse clicks.

Short summary of it’s functionality
Instead of accessing a website directly, it’ll be first opened by one of our servers, called Proxy.

This Proxy hides your true internet identiy and makes it look as if not you, but the Proxy is currently visiting the website.

anonymoX is cost-free in its basic version, which is made possible by including some ads. But we provide a chargeable Premium version allowing extended use of our anonymization network.

Please note our Guidline for proper use, if correct functionality and anonymity is very important to you.

Download anonymoX here

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Better Privacy (firefox addon)

Better Privacy serves to protect against special longterm cookies, a new generation of ‘Super-Cookie’, which silently conquered the Internet. This new cookie generation offers unlimited user tracking to industry and market research.

Concerning privacy Flash-cookies are most critical. This add-on was made to make users aware of those hidden, never expiring objects and to offer an easier way to view and to manage them – since browsers are unable to do that for you.

Flash-cookies (Local Shared Objects, LSO) are pieces of information placed on your computer by a Flash plug-in. Those Super-Cookies are placed in central system folders. They are frequently used like standard browser cookies. Although their thread potential is much higher as of conventional cookies, only few users began to take notice of them.

BetterPrivacy allows to list and manage Flash-cookies, e.g. to remove those objects automatically on browser start, browser exit or by a configurable timer function while certain desired Flash cookies can be excluded from automatic deletion. So this extension becomes sort of “install and forget add-on”. Usually automatic deletion is safe (no negative impact on your browsing), especially if the deletion timer is activated.

The timer can delay automatic deletion for new or modified Flash-cookies which might be in use. It also allows to delete those objects immediately if desired. Users who wish to to manage all Flash-cookies manually can disable the automatic functions or exclude certain Flash-cookies from automatic deletion.

Some Flash-cookie (LSO) properties in short…
– they are never expiring – staying on your computer for an unlimited time.
– by default they offer a storage of 100 KB (compare: Usual cookies 4 KB).
– browsers are not fully aware of LSO’s, They often cannot be displayed or managed by browsers.
– via Flash they can access and store highly specific personal and technical information (system, user name, files,…).
– ability to send the stored information to the appropriate server, without user’s permission.
– Flash applications do not need to be visible
– there is no easy way to tell which Flash-cookie sites are tracking you.
– shared folders allow cross-browser tracking, LSO’s work in every flash-enabled application
– the Flash company doesn’t provide a user-friendly way to manage LSO’s, In fact it’s incredible cumbersome.
– many domains and tracking companies make extensive use of Flash-cookies.
This kind of cookies is not harmless.

————————- IMPORTANT ————————-
IF YOU PERMIT DELETION OF LSO’s,
THEN COOKIE-STORED INFORMATION LIKE
GAME SETTINGS OR LOGIN DATA (YAHOO SEAL)
MIGHT BE LOST! MAKE SURE THAT YOU EXCLUDED
IMPORTANT COOKIES FROM DELETION (SEE FAQ)

Frequently asked questions (FAQ):
Please scroll to the bottom of the page.

Recommended comprehensive Flash-cookie article (topic: UC Berkeley research report)
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/you-deleted-your-cookies-think-again/

Wikipedia LSO information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Shared_Object

See what Google finds:
http://google.com/search?q=flash-cookie+super-cookie

Privacy test:
http://nc.ddns.us/BetterPrivacy.htm (right column, Flash needed)

Get the Better Privacy extension here

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Collusion (firefox extension)

Take control of your data

We recognize the importance of transparency and our mission is all about empowering users — both with tools and with information.

The Ford Foundation is supporting Mozilla to develop the Collusion add-on so it will enable users to not only see who is tracking them across the Web, but also to turn that tracking off when they want to.

Telling the global tracking story

Your data can be part of the larger story. When we launch the full version of Collusion, it will allow you to opt-in to sharing your anonymous data in a global database of web tracker data. We’ll combine all that information and make it available to help researchers, journalists, and others analyze and explain how data is tracked on the web.

Building user awareness

Through our work with the Ford Foundation, we’ll be building outreach campaigns to help people understand online data tracking — both the benefits and the issues — so they can make their own choices about how they want to be tracked (or choose not to be tracked at all).

Collusion is about choice

Not all tracking is bad. Many services rely on user data to provide relevant content and enhance your online experience. But most tracking happens without users’ consent and without their knowledge. That’s not okay. It should be you who decides when, how and if you want to be tracked. Collusion will be a powerful tool to help you do that.Get Collusion here.

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Ghostery (browser extension)

Ghostery sees the “invisible” web, detecting trackers, web bugs, pixels, and beacons placed on web pages by Facebook, Google Analytics, and over 600 other ad networks, behavioral data providers, web publishers – all companies interested in your activity.

 

PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY
Ghostery is built and maintained for users that care about their online privacy, and is engineered with privacy as a primary goal. Ghostery use is anonymous. No registrations or sign-ups are required. The Ghostery plug-in does not place cookies into your browser. Neither the Ghostery application nor Evidon receives any data from Ghostery users unless the user opts-in to participate in GhostRank. GhostRank data itslef is anonymous, is NEVER used for advertising targeting purposes, and is only shared in aggregated, non-personal, statistical form.

CONTROL
Ghostery allows you to block scripts from companies that you don’t trust, delete local shared objects, and even block images and iframes.

CONNECT

Download here.
Visit our support forum: http://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ghostery
Friend us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ghostery
Check out the blog: http://news.ghostery.com

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