The simple answer to this is actually a question, “Do you pay for it?”. Any way you break it down, free stuff is free because it sucks or its run by hippies, and stuff that costs money, actually costs money because people work on it. Ok, so its not 100% of the time, but it is the rule, and of course there are some exceptions. Anonymous proxy servers (anonymous because you don’t know who the administrator is, not because the IP is anonymous) don’t have any sort of accountability, and if something goes awry, good look looking for them. Here are some good proxy sites for you to check out.
Free Proxies – Good Ones
Ok, I’ll start by proving myself wrong. There are some free proxies that you can trust. Tor is one of them. I mentioned hippies earlier – this is them. They’re not really hippies, just hippie in that they’re fight for free Internet, supporting reporters without borders, whistle-blowers, and the like. Whatever your goals are with being anonymous online, you can use their proxy software for free. There are definitely some negatives to the service, which they’re quite open about on their site, but its still a great idea.
Hide My Ass and Hotspot Shield are also good free proxy sites. The free proxy connections come with a constant reminder that there’s a better (paid) service, but if you can put up with that reminder, these are some pretty good anonymous proxy sites.
Paid Proxies
Hide My IP has a pretty cheap software. I haven’t tried it, but I’ve seen their adverts around, and asked a few questions about. Their software comes with a year of service and a chance to renew after a year. You’ve got to pay extra for choice of server locations, but if you can do with the bare minimum, its a good proxy. They’re a REAL company, with products, income, and thus accountability. Being able to trust your proxy service is important because by connecting to their servers, you’re sharing your IP information with them.
Securitales is a bit more expensive, but still reasonable. I have tried their service, and have nothing but great things to say about them. I’ll spare you the sales pitch, but if you’re interested, you can check out a full review of Securitales.
Conclusion
There are a number of other good proxy sites out there, both paid and free, but these stick out in my mind as being quality services you can trust.