Ethically Sourced Proxies

A quick search of the term “proxy providers” will reveal pages upon pages of advertisements of companies all claiming to offer the best proxy services. This is not a bad thing. In fact, it shows how we care about privacy and how much the market has developed in recent years. However, this does not mean that the market does not have its downsides. For one thing, selecting a reliable proxy provider among the plethora of companies on the web can be a daunting task.

That is not all. The ethics and legality surrounding proxies have always been a blurred line plagued by controversy between opposers and proposers of the service. It is worth noting that proxies themselves are not illegal. The legal aspect will be brought forth by the purpose for which you intend to use the proxy. In most cases, legal proceedings are unlikely. When detected, some of the most common repercussions include bans (mostly due to an unreliable proxy).

Now, let us get to ethics. What are ethically-sourced proxies? These are proxies that are acquired through ethical means. What does this mean? The first step in ensuring your proxy usage is legal is the source. As mentioned earlier, there are numerous providers on the web. Hence, you need to conduct your due diligence and find out the kind of company you are working with. Accordingly, this company needs to be accredited and registered. This is the first step in acquiring an ethical proxy.

As outlined before, ethically-sourced proxies have been acquired through ethical means. Proxy sellers are held accountable for the standards through which they obtained their proxy addresses. Residential proxies, which belong to real devices owned by real people, must be obtained with consent. Ethically sourced proxies do not collect personal user data from their sources or clients.

How are ethically sourced proxies obtained? They are obtained by compensating people who own devices so that their devices’ IPs are used as proxies. Therefore, before buying a proxy from any company, you need to ensure that it has legitimate means of obtaining its IP addresses. The IP owners (for residential proxies) need to know that their IP addresses and devices are being utilized for proxy services. Once you verify that the company has ethical means of obtaining its IP addresses, you can go on ahead and purchase the proxy.