1) I would be very uncomfortable if everyone on this forum used a proxy. The idea that proxies protect you from agencies set out to, let's say, "monitor the opposition" or similar activity, DOES NOT STAND, because such agencies have very likely the means to go to the source and circumvent the proxy. Maybe they OWN the proxy server, how about that?regex wrote:...
If anything, as I said, the use of the proxy makes them even more curious about the person behind it.
On the other hand: proxies do harm the admins, and the openness of a forum, because you cannot ever be sure if one user is also being another user and another and another, and makes you wonder even more how much acting and pretending is going on throughout. Catch my drift? Bottom line, if everyone used a proxy we should seriously think about banning proxies...
2) If you used a proxy but forgot to delete your cookies or logout from, say, google facebook or ebay, they would still know who you are! On the other hand, if you did not use a proxy, but regularly deleted cookies, maybe changed DNS servers periodically, and generally browsed responsibly, they actually would not be able to monitor you. Hence, proxies not that useful. In my opinion proxies are useful when you are blocked to access websites --and that's it.
4) yes it is more trustworthy, but as I said, software is not everything. Who owns the server that host your website, or a server that host the proxy you use, has the keys to open every door. And, you know, there is no way to tell if a proxy server is "trustworthy" or, instead, is a military operation or something!! Whoever is convinced to be safe behind a proxy I think is just being naive, unless the proxy server is actually run by his brother or something.