This has been showing up in my referrer log.

July 27, 2000 3:03 PM

This has been showing up in my referrer log. The site enables you to surf anonymously. It also blocks stats on systems, screen resolution and browser type. It might prove useful to some here. As a designer though, I have concerns about being able to track user statistics.
posted by centrs (8 comments total)

It's yet another catch-22: you want to know what your users are seeing so that you can optimise your site for them, and yet, you don't really have the right to know who they are or where they are. There ought to be a way (I'd imagine that it would be feasible) for anonymizer to block identifying information and not technical information. But perhaps that's asking too much.
posted by Dreama at 3:24 PM on July 27, 2000

I have yet to see a browser that gives screen resolution as a http header, you'd have to fetch it with java(script) and send it back to the server. It does give the browser version, though not the OS.

Anyway, a site should look reasonable at all normal resolutions, and usable at _all_ resolutions.
posted by fvw at 4:53 PM on July 27, 2000

Finally! something I know well enough to comment on... Yes, there are other services out there that try to address various parts of the private web experience (both from the user's perspective and the site owner's), but none of them really do a bang-up job of it.

I'm working with a group of people that are actually doing something about privacy (and a few other deficiencies) in a holistic approach.

I know that self-promotion is frowned upon, but I couldn't let a post pass that was this germane. If you're interested in the project, my clients are accepting applications for the beta test.

Check out http://www.orangatango.com


posted by silusGROK at 5:12 PM on July 27, 2000

No offense. but your page doesn't say what it is you're doing.
posted by aaron at 6:51 PM on July 27, 2000

Will this utility stop my IT manager from seeing what web pages I'm going to at work? I doubt it, but when I found out he checks that stuff out, I got a little disturbed.
posted by Doug at 9:08 PM on July 27, 2000

Sorry, folks... in all my trying not to offend anyone about the promotional nature of the post, I didn't tell anyone about what it did.

Basically, Orangatango is an infomediary that uses various technologies to shuttle information between the user and the sites they visit. All together, we call the technology a virtual browser: you surf into Orangatango, sign in, then surf out using their interface to anywhere on the web. As a user of the service, you are protected by a non-disclosure agreement... not some "privacy policy" that can change on a whim.

As you surf, Orangatango shields your data. Of course, privacy is only a part of what Orangatango is about. Mobility is another-- think of it: your web experience is as close as an internet-enabled computer... along with all your bookmarks, passwords, histories.

As the community grows, my clients have other features that will be coming online.

At any rate, the home page doesn't say any of this because it's meant to be a by-invitation-only set-up. But please, consider yourselves invited. Once the beta starts, you'll be contacted.

And yes, DOUG, all your IT people will see is that you surfed into Orangatango.

Hope that helps, everyone. Frankly, I'm excited to see a few of you sign-up for the beta. It's always good to have a few internet savvy folks poking around!
posted by silusGROK at 8:01 AM on July 28, 2000

And when your company goes under, you'll be auctioning off all that user data? (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)
posted by owen at 8:14 AM on July 28, 2000

Actually... preventing that sort of thing'll be part of the agreement. My clients have even considered spinning of the database group as a non-profit group that serviced various Orangatango initiatives...


posted by silusGROK at 8:45 AM on July 28, 2000