The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in May 2018. Since then, it has netted hundreds of millions of dollars in fines from violators, with the amounts shelled out showing the expensive consequences of violating users’ online data privacy. Still, it doesn’t guarantee 100% user privacy and security.
This means the onus is always on the user rather than companies to safeguard their online privacy and security. There are several ways to achieve this, one of which entails using the web unblocker.
Online Privacy and Security in 2023
Indeed, the GDPR law has so far helped companies toe the line. However, it still has a few grey areas. For instance, it doesn’t explicitly outlaw browser fingerprinting, provided companies are transparent on the type of data they collect. Thus, businesses are bound to collect more and more data for fingerprinting. And given that this data is then used to create an online avatar of the user for marketing purposes, with the resultant profile being accurate more often than not, the need to protect online data becomes even more important.
Just as companies are jostling for consumers’ data, so too are individuals with malicious intent. As a result, cyber threats and cyberattacks are on the rise. A recent 2023 study titled “The State of Consumer Cybersecurity,” for example, predicts that attacks such as phishing and social engineering will become more sophisticated in 2023. Separately, a 2023 article that discusses the biggest cyber threats for businesses highlights ransomware attacks that are more directed to the rest of the world, hacktivism, and fraud will be more prevalent in 2023.
Therefore, businesses and users must look for ways to safeguard their online privacy and security, and what better way than to use a web unblocker.
What is a Web Unblocker?
A web unblocker is a proxy solution that relies on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to intelligently bypass some of the most sophisticated anti-bot measures ever implemented on websites. And given that it isn’t a regular proxy, it offers additional capabilities you cannot find in a proxy. This fact makes it ideal for not only web scraping but also boosting your online privacy and security.
For instance, a proxy simply intermediates communication between a web server and a web client (browser). It also merely assigns the same IP address to all web requests (except for a rotating proxy, which periodically changes the IP address).
As a result of this underlying operation, a proxy guarantees online anonymity and privacy by masking your real IP address and assigning a different identifier. It, therefore, prevents websites from getting ahold of your location information, which is a plus. It also promotes security, especially if the proxy isn’t shared among multiple users. But these benefits are no match for a web unblocker.
How a Web Unblocker Promotes Security and Privacy
A web unblocker utilizes AI and ML to intelligently select the right proxy pool that’ll guarantee the highest level of anonymity, security, and success when web scraping. Its proxy management tool even goes a step further by selecting the most appropriate proxy type for a task. It also rotates the assigned proxy and, by extension, the IP address.
In this regard, this tool makes it virtually impossible for a web server to access your real IP address. Plus, the fact that this proxy management functionality is available to all web unblocker users makes it superior to proxies and thus guarantees greater privacy and security.
But a web unblocker’s capabilities aren’t only restricted to proxy management. For example, it can generate unique browser fingerprints. As such, it creates the persona of real website users that it subsequently furnishes to the webserver alongside the requests. This prevents the web server and the trackers installed therein from gaining access to information they can otherwise use to create an accurate user profile that best describes your characteristics. This way, the web unblocker promotes online privacy by preventing accurate browser fingerprinting. Instead, it supplies fake but usable fingerprints.
Moreover, the web unblocker supports geo-location targeting. This means it can be used to change your real location, which prevents online tracking and, therefore, further boosts security and privacy. At the same time, it allows you to set and use custom cookies. Cookies are text-based files that store information that helps a web server identify requests from a particular visitor and, thus, remember their previous activity and requests. It is a form of tracking that has traditionally been used. However, by enabling you to set a custom cookie, the web unblocker prevents this form of web tracking, thus promoting online privacy and security. If you’re interested in Oxylabs, you can find their website here.
Conclusion
As websites invent even more invasive ways to track and collect user data, staying ahead of the curve is vital. Web unblockers offer features that safeguard your online security and privacy. Some of these include intelligent proxy management and dynamic browser fingerprinting.
By masking your real IP address and subsequently rotating the assigned IP, the web unblocker prevents IP-based tracking, thus promoting privacy and security.
