Foreign ISPs

[andy at handiwork]

If the state goes ahead with plans to spy on our every web click, is it possble to have a foreign based ISP that would not be forced to hand over records of ones internet visits? If not, can someone produce a programme that will automatically access, momentarily, every result of a random google search that I can leave running overnight so that we can drown the snoopers with data? That could be thousands of web sites of millions of users.

[JonnyHungwell]

It's not possible to have a foreign ISP, although there are plenty of products that use proxies, that purport to protect your identity - but it depends on how much you trust the providers, because ultimately they know where you've been - even though some are based abroad and claim not to keep logs.

You can do it yourself within internet explorer if you can find a reliable proxy - there are loads about and sites that publish them daily, but they're only there because companies have mis-configured their servers and people piggy back on them. They can be slow and unreliable and most don't work - so you can waste a lot of time finding a good one.

Technically it's not legal to use them, but in reality prosecution would be near impossible because it involves cross border legal matters and a lot of the servers are in countries not friendly to the UK, so they would not co-operate anyway. But beware of using US military or government servers, because they will come after you

Plus most companies would never like to make public the fact that their servers were left open, so they just close the ports down and forget about it - it could cause them a real embarrassment if it hit the news.

[andy at handiwork]

Thanks for the info. Basically for a relative computer illiterate like me there's no legal/feasable alternative to letting the mad curtain-twitcher woman of Whitehall see my records.

Is the drown them in data idea a runner?

[Floydoid]

If you fancy a change of broadband supplier here's plenty of info about ISP's over at Kitz's site:

http://www.kitz.co.uk/isp/index.htm

We've had several debates about this topic and related issues on the forums over there:

http://www.kitz.co.uk/isp/index.htm (look in the News Articles & Tech Chat sections)

Please note that I've deliberately not hotlinked , as the webmistress over there wouldn't appreciate being linked to an 'adult' site.

[andy at handiwork]

Thank you for the info, though my initial point was for a foreign ISP that wouldn't be legally forced to keep and divulge my web visits. It would appear to be difficult and probably illegal. And actually I do have things to hide, though only to prevent the police making a circumstantial case against me should they wish. I suspect that would apply to an awful lot of people.

I'll have a look at the site you suggest for general info though.