Features And Benefits Of Free Proxies
Free, open or public proxies are proxies that can be used free of charge by anyone who wants to use a proxy service. At a basic level, they do provide the services of a proxy server, but it is prudent to qualify this definition with a more lengthy explanation. Any internet user has access to free proxies. You need only search in your favorite browser. These online services allow you to surf the web anonymously. While this sounds attractive, experience teaches us that there are pitfalls that must be acknowledged and avoided with the use of free proxies. Online irritants come in many forms. A generic irritant is slow service, but we shall also examine some more serious dangers.
Costs Time
The use of the word “free” is a misnomer because it costs the user. The first cost is time. Free proxies are notoriously slow but there is a reason for that. Since they do not make money through the sale of their service, they must do so in another way. One such way is through the selling of ads. The thought process behind the slow speed is that it gives you time to see the ads. Once you click on them or actually buy products, the proxy earns money. Ergo, free proxy service providers are not committed to making your experience faster or more efficient.
Hackers
This is an extreme example, but it is by no means far-fetched. Hackers may skillfully lure victims through the use of free proxies. They entice users to use their free proxies and once you do, all of your information is available to them. Hackers capture and exploit select data that travels through their proxy network. They simply wait for personal and important information to come across the network. They are able to capture everything from credit card information and passwords, to social media and bank accounts. Ironically, a free proxy can turn out to be a Trojan horse for hackers.
Free proxies place bandwidth restrictions on their service for the reasons mentioned above. Paid services do not because speed is an important criterion upon which they are judged. They will not risk losing customers because of this. Another cost is that the operators of free proxies sell the details of their users’ traffic. They don’t violate their users themselves like the hacker example above, but they do allow third parties to encroach on their users’ privacy. It is widely accepted that paid proxies trump free proxies every time. Users are discouraged from patronizing the services of free web proxies because they can be numerous and potentially detrimental. In addition, there are several alternatives available to achieve the goals of anonymity and privacy protection that customers seek.
Also falling under the rubric of free proxies are IP Port Proxies. Like the free web proxies, they afford users the use of their services at no monetary cost but these should also be approached with some caution.
