You can create your own privacy tools!

The dependence and over reliance on the internet and information technologies have left us vulnerable to mass surveillance. As convenience and efficiency became the main goals for tech companies, an individual is no longer treated as a customer but more as a product. Modern products, services, and software are usually tailored to the addictive behavior patterns of a consumer. The time a person spends using modern apps and smart devices needs to be sufficient enough for a company to extract, use, and sell your data.

To counteract such privacy infringements, internet users gravitate towards Virtual Private Networks (VPN) – the most popular yet overrated anonymity tools on the internet. While the masking of an IP address is beneficial while trying to access a geo-blocked website, VPN providers greatly over-promise on the benefits of this service.

In this article, we want to encourage internet users to try developing their own internet privacy tools. With a rented IP address at a data center, you can easily create a data center proxy or a private VPN. Web surfers can use free and open-source software to work on these tools and learn more about internet privacy along the way. Standard, public VPN services only secure your data with encryption to protect it from other users of a public network. Also, some VPN providers can and usually do track data packets of their clients to prevent any illegal activity. That is why creating your own proxy or a VPN is a lot safer than most public VPN services. You can also create a residential proxy with a Raspberry PI or other smart device that would use an IP address supplied by an internet service provider. However, residential proxies are usually used for web scraping and similar business tasks that depend on small recognizability that can be unachievable with a data center IP. In such cases, a residential proxy from a legitimate provider is the superior option. For now, let’s focus on creating our personal internet privacy tools!

Rent a server

Renting a server is the first and very simple step that will give you the platform for your personal proxy server or a VPN. Linux Virtual Private Servers (VPS) is a stable option that can help you set up a residential proxy, but you can also buy data center IPs to save money.

If your only concern is your privacy, you can pay for a few data center addresses to create multiple data center proxies or use one and keep others as a backup.

However, creating your proxy servers has some downsides. Location changes are a big part of the proxy user experience. If you need anonymity tools to constantly bypass different geo-blocked websites, creating your own proxy server might not be the best option. Popular proxy providers offer IPs from locations all around the globe, while the creation of personal servers would force you to pay for IPs in a chosen location. If your goal is stability, we encourage experimenting with purchased data center IP addresses to build technical knowledge and possess a customized anonymity tool that suits your needs. However, if your connections depend on flexibility and adaptability, choose a reliable proxy provider instead of paying and creating servers all around the world.

How can you use a personal proxy server?

While proxy servers are most often used as an IP changer, you can assign different addresses to different instances of data transmission. This is especially useful for handling web scrapers and bots that automate purchases in online shops for limited edition products.

With a decent setup of proxy server IPs, you can practice extracting public information from sensitive websites like Amazon that detect and blacklist unauthorized data collection. However, just because scraping does not line up with the company’s policy does not mean that it is illegal. Amazon’s disapproval of public data scraping is hypocritical because the company uses the same tools at a far greater scale for frequent price adjustments and other decisions calibrated by a constant supply of analyzed information on targeted markets. Creating your own proxies is a valuable skill that can help you better understand the functionality of intermediary servers and their advanced, customizable forms that enable web scrapers and allow them to continue extracting data without interruptions.

A sneaker enthusiast can set up personal proxy servers in different yet approximate locations to disguise themselves as a group of customers living in a general vicinity, all eager to purchase a new line of exclusive footwear. While companies try to give a fair shot for every client, online sneaker drops put casual traders at a big disadvantage. This way, a tech-savvy sneaker head gets away with multiple pairs of sneakers and puts them up for sale at an inflated price, while a lot of casual clients walk away with nothing.

Having a data center proxy in a country of your choice will allow you to stream chosen content for localized internet users. Still, that does not mean that increased security will protect you from piracy and copyright infringement claims if you stream movies or videos without proper authorization.

In most cases, renting a large pool of residential proxy IPs will give you the best the tool can offer for your needs. Entrusting an integral part of your internet browsing into the hands of professionals will ensure protection of transmitted data packets and performed work tasks. However, doing something yourself is a lot more rewarding. If you need a proxy for everyday browsing, you will be better off learning new things and avoiding unnecessary expenses. Developing this skill set will help you learn new things and save money because you don’t pay for a provider’s advertising and marketing, design, and other costs you should not care about. Manipulation of purchased data center IPs will help you better grasp internet protocols – the rules that set up routing and addressing of data packets traveling through the web. Create your own privacy tools to hide your IP address and build a skill set that may translate into a career in computer science!