Risks of Using Unethically Sourced Residential Proxies

Many proxy users know the benefits of residential proxies, but few are familiar with the risks of using unethically sourced residential proxies. The lack of knowledge on this topic can be dangerous for both those who use unethical IPs and those who own them.

For that reason, we’re going to discuss the importance of transparent proxy sourcing and the dangers of using unethically obtained proxies. That way, you can focus on your project and not worry about the consequences of using unethically-sourced residential IPs .

Why You Should Avoid Unethically Sourced Residential Proxies?

Many proxy providers on the market offer unethically or even illegally sourced residential IP addresses. In addition, some don’t even get consent from their peers to share their IP addresses and bandwidth. In other words, these individuals have no idea someone uses their devices as proxy servers. This practice can cause severe problems for both proxy users and proxy network participants.

But before we talk about common dangers associated with using unethically sourced residential proxies and help you avoid them, let’s explain what residential proxies are in the first place.

What Are Residential Proxies?

Residential proxies are IP addresses proxy providers obtain from real users and real devices on Wi-Fi. They function as a middleman between you and the target web servers, keeping your online identity hidden. This way, the sites and services you visit online see the proxy’s IP address as your own. This allows you to browse anonymously and keep your online activities private.

These proxy servers come from real users, so they are almost impossible to block. This makes them more anonymous, secure, and costly than other types of proxies.

Reasons to Avoid Unethically Sourced Residential Proxies

Using residential proxies acquired unethically or illegally is equally dangerous for casual internet users and businesses. Here are some of the risks associated with using them:

• Data breaches

Cybercriminals are always looking for new ways to get their hands on private user data. Unethically sourced residential proxies make their job easier, allowing fraudsters to target unaware proxy users and obtain all the data they share online. For companies and businesses, the risks of using unethically sourced proxies include data breaches , which can be catastrophic.

• Diminished reputation

Companies that use unethically sourced proxies for their corporate online activities can suffer irreparable damage to their brand and loss of customer trust. Today, people are becoming more aware of problems associated with data use. Therefore, any business related to companies engaged in data-based cybercrime will sooner or later deal with lost partnerships, clients, and sales.

• Legal issues

Using proxies acquired unethically by turning devices into botnets can lead to class-action lawsuits and other legal complications. Companies that are found responsible for damages associated with those claims can be subjected to litigation and hefty legal fees.

• Erratic web scraping

We can’t recommend sing proxies with a suspicious origin to anyone, especially businesses that plan to use them for web scraping. That’s because they are very unstable, have increased time-outs, and are more sensitive to bans and blocks.

Aside from being unable to collect the necessary data, businesses that use these proxies will probably have to turn to other resources to get the data they need. This can lead to additional costs and other complications, including compromised service agreements and damaged client relationships.

How to Avoid Unethically Sourced Residential Proxies

Choosing the most affordable provider that offers residential IPs from the location you need is not enough. You should always check if the provider’s proxy sourcing method is safe and transparent. If the provider doesn’t have this information on the site, make sure you contact the support team and ask about it.

Questions like “How do you source your residential IPs?” or “What’s your proxy sourcing method?” should be enough to get the answer you need. IPRoyal is a trusty proxy provider with its own pool of ethically sourced residential proxies. The way we acquire our proxies sets us apart from the competition.

In short, we offer compensation and rewards for anyone willing to share their bandwidth in our proxy network. All our users are fully aware that we use their IP address and share it with our clients for performing a legal online activity. With that said, our clients can rest assured that they are using ethically sourced residential proxies for their online activities.

Final Words

Residential proxies are an excellent choice for many personal and corporate online tasks as long as they are sourced ethically and transparently. However, you can find many unethically sourced residential proxies on the market and use them without even knowing. This can put you at risk of data breaches, financial problems, legal issues, etc.

The only way to avoid these hazards is to be careful when choosing a proxy provider and ensure its residential proxies are ethically sourced before subscribing!