In a previous article, we have written about the difference between private proxies and public ones. Moreover, that article focused more on the technical elements than on the actual risks you might face when using a public proxy server. While these risks are not present when a private proxy server, many users still rely on using public ones instead of private ones. Therefore, we decided to write this article about the differences and risks involved in using public proxies instead of private ones.
What are private proxies
Private proxies are either shared or dedicated proxies which are created and maintained by a proxy provider. This means that everything related to that proxy’s server is the responsibility of the provider offering it.
And as the private proxy market is a very competitive and opened one, providers are fighting between them to offer the best services for their customers. Therefore, private proxies will have a guaranteed uptime and speed. Therefore, buying private proxies, a user is certain that he will manage to use it accordingly. And connect to any website in the world, any time he needs it.
In addition, during the years, to maintain connectivity and be able to provide working proxies for any type of project, providers started offering dedicated special use proxies. These are private proxies allocated especially for certain online platforms. So if you plan on using your proxies for social media or to cop shows online, you must use special use proxies. Such proxies are Facebook proxies or sneakers proxies come with the guarantee to connect to the desired social platform without any risks.
What are public proxies
On the other hand, in the proxy world, one will find public proxies as well. These proxies are created and maintained on a public server. And in comparison to private proxies, everybody can use public proxies without any restrictions.
While these proxies are free to use, there is always a catch. You must think and consider why somebody will want to maintain a public server and share its connection and proxy’s IP with the rest of the word. Unfortunately, not many public proxy users consider answering to such questions. Therefore, we decided to list four reasons for which you must not use public proxies.
1. Public proxies have their IPs blacklisted. Private proxies do not
Think about it. If a proxy is free to use and anybody can connect to its IP to divert his traffic, sooner or later, somebody will start using the proxy for malicious purposes.
And when an IP is used for malicious purposes, it tends to be blocked by most websites and online services. Therefore, if you are using public proxies, chances are that you will not manage to connect to most online services.
2. Data risks is present in public proxies
Even if you manage to connect through the public proxies server, you risk disclosing personal data and login information to third parties with malicious purposes.
This is one of the factors you must consider. Why would somebody maintain a public proxy server? What is his/her/their gain? If you can’t answer this question, consider what are they going to do with your personal data if you decide to connect and divert your traffic through a public proxy.
While data theft is an ever-present risk in the use of public proxies, this is not the case when it comes to private proxies. Because private proxy servers are maintained by providers that usually are limited companies registered in developed countries. And in this countries, there are clear and distinct laws regarding personal data handling.
3. The public proxy server’s specs are terrible
The more people connect through a server, the bandwidth which is available for each user decreases. And as you will see that public proxy servers have tens or hundreds of users at the same time, connecting to a website takes an awful amount of time.
This issue does not exist when connecting through a private proxy server. Because the connections allowed through a private proxy server are limited. For example, through a dedicated proxy server, only one user is allowed to connect through it. And through a semi-dedicated proxy, the connection is limited to up to three or four people. Thus, the bandwidth is not divided between hundreds of people, but between a handful of users.
4. No information about the server
This is another issue regarding the public proxy world. If something happens to your personal data connecting through these private proxies, there is no entity you can hold responsible for it. Therefore, you are always at risks when using a public proxy server. Moreover, this is not the case with private proxies, where you can always take the necessary legal steps in the provider’s jurisdiction if something awful happened to you.
Friday, October 20, 2017
