David N Waldmann wrote:
For the greatest privacy use a public computer in a place like a library and don't ever give out any identification. Unless you end up breaking the law on the net I don't think anyone will be tracing IP addresses and cross-checking it with a handwritten sign in log.
My best friend works in a public library in the US, and sometimes his work task is so be in the computer monitoring room. The library computers are networked, and he can see what anybody is viewing on their screens. He also has logs of times/websites viewed/etc. Last week he booted a man from the library for looking at porn.
There are lots of things you can do if you're really concerned about privacy. Some of them are more drastic, like surfing the web via cloaking proxies so that you leave no trace; using anonymous email systems so that your email leaves no trace. Less drastic options are sensible things like not giving out your name and address all over the place (particularly when you are socializing online), not doing anything illegal, not doing anything that you would be shamed to admit, and making sure to delete your cookies and browser history regularly.
One action I'd definitely recommend is to download and install Ad-aware, a program that searches for spyware on your computer and erases it. Spyware is very small, intrusive software that can get installed on your computer when you install other programs (it will be mentioned in the user contract, but almost incomprehensibly phrased) or, sometimes, when you are viewing certain web pages. It sends back information to companies -- often marketing companies -- such as what websites you're viewing, and what software programs you use, and spyware can do slimy things like remember what you type into fields on web pages. Basically, it sucks.
Here's the url to download it:
http://www.cheetaa.com/lava/aaw.exe
And here's their website:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
After installing it, get it to scan all of your drives. It will then show you all the spyware that it has found, and by checking checkboxes, you can choose to erase the spyware or not. And yes, it's a trustworthy program. Been recommended and reviewed in mainstream newspapers, etc. (As you can see if you check it on Google).
-- Webgirl