This question is about privacy, anonymity and security when on the net.
I have installed the Vidalia bundle of TOR and Privoxy programs on my computer. The intent of those programs is to route your internet activity through several, often many servers, thus making it difficult to find the origination point.
However, on their webpage
Tor: Download - there is a section that explains that it won’t protect your traffic if plugins, such as Java, Flash, ActiveX, RealPlayer, Quicktime or Adobe’s PDF are used. Since most people will have those plugins, I’m wondering why Tor is considered useful.
Prior to reading the above, I went to a site using Java and was surprised to see them displaying my IP address. If my IP address is known, my local area is known and it’s possible to get my name and street address from my ISP.
I reconfigured and went to the site
What Is My IP Address? - Lookup IP, Hide IP, Change IP, Trace IP and more... - and, again, my IP address was displayed. But, a note said, (Now detects many proxy servers). If my IP address is shown, what’s the point of many proxy servers?
So, is there anything I can do to ensure my privacy?