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Privada Promises Anonymous Surfing

Subscription service protects your private information online.

By Alexandra Krasne, PCWorld   

Ned's fears are shared by many too tentative to partake in electronic commerce or even surf the Web. A new service from Privada Network may allay their apprehension.

For $5 per user a month, you can buy online security using Web Incognito, a service that lets you surf the Internet without disclosing personal information, Privada says.

Web Incognito uses PrivadaProxy, a Java-based client software that encrypts your information and sends it back to the Privada Network. The service limits how many site tidbits, like cookies, end up on your PC.

Cookies still work with Web Incognito, but they're shipped off to the Privada network instead of your own PC. That way, you go through the Privada Network to block cookies or delete them. Or you can use them to put your user name and password into password-protected sites.

Undercover Browsing

But Privada warns that a site can get your personal information even before it sends a cookie.

When you log on to a Web site, site administrators can find out your e-mail address; IP address (which is individual to you); the operating system you use; your computer's name, browser type, and capabilities; plug-ins installed; date and time on your system; and contact information for the domain name of your e-mail.

Privada is hoping to change all of that.

When you log on to a site protected by Web Incognito, the site administrators get not your private information, but an IP address and user ID for the Privada network, says Barbara Bellissimo, Privada president and chief executive officer.

"We hope to get people online who aren't online," Bellissimo says.

But while Privada's products may ease tension, some people don't trust online transactions no matter how tight the security, notes Jack Staff, chief economist at Zona Research.

"We all saw Enemy of the State, and I suspect there is a body of people for whom this kind of security is important," Staff says. Others realize that some of their personal information may be visible but prefer to "enjoy the benefits of e-commerce and don't care," Staff adds.

Staff compares online security to home security. Some level of security both places will keep kids from breaking in. But it's rare to keep a house or PC secure from a professional thief or hacker.

"This is not to say that I doubt Privada can do the job," Staff says. "I suspect the application will get limited adoption until we have a major front-page cybercrime, then [use of the product] will climb up."