SafeWeb, a US company, allows visitors to its free site to connect
their computer to any other web sites securely and privately,
making monitoring of surfing activity impossible. It also offers
secure internet e-mail accounts. The technology poses a threat to
the effectiveness of any laws that give security agencies or
employers to intercept on-line communications, such as the UK’s
Regulation of Investigatory Powers legislation.
With normal internet use, data transmitted to and from web sites
visited can be secretly intercepted and examined, allowing the
sites you visit to identify your computer’s unique IP (Internet
Protocol) address. With SafeWeb, which frames any site visitors
wish to see within a window on its own site, all data sent and
received is encrypted and all cookies and scripts are disabled,
making interception futile and preventing sites collecting
information on the user.
This month, the government of China tried to block access to the
site to prevent access to unapproved sites. The government
maintains a list of restricted sites, including CNN.com and BBC
Online, blocked by filtering software called Internet Police 110
which is run by the country’s ISPs. SafeWeb has fought back with a
program called Triangle Boy.
This peer-to-peer application prevents anyone - including
corporations, governments and schools - from blocking access to
SafeWeb. Volunteers can turn their PCs into "packet reflectors," or
proxies, for SafeWeb by installing Triangle Boy. Since, SafeWeb
reasons, the Chinese government is unlikely to block access to the
volunteer PCs, they can act as encrypted gateways to the internet
and allow Chinese citizens full access to an uncensored web.
The only information that monitoring parties will learn is that
a surfer has accessed SafeWeb’s site. SafeWeb expects in one or two
weeks to have a system in place to encrypt the URLs stored in
users' browser cache files, presently a loophole in its security if
users have not disabled their page caching.
