David: Can protecting our online activities really help protect against identity theft?

Lance: Absolutely. Gartner found that more than one million consumers lost a total of around $925 million during 2004 due to phishing attacks. If you proactively protect yourself against these threats, you empower yourself by taking safety into your hands and protect your family as well. Online predators feed on the fact that most people still aren't really aware of what a phishing or pharming scam is, and they're going to take full advantage of that vulnerability. We, at Anonymizer, try to educate Internet users about the threats while providing powerful solutions to keep their identities safe.

David: Isn't part of identity theft's problem real paper, not Internet traffic? I'll give you an example. Today, I got my Florida driver's license and had to turn in my New Jersey one. I'm told that the Florida officials are going to shred my New Jersey license, but I wasn't allowed to see that happen. In theory, the old license has been destroyed, but I suppose it's equally possible that some Florida employee is taking home old drivers licenses. How do we protect ourselves from this sort of problem?

Lance: That's great that you're thinking that way. And it's possible that scenario might happen. There will always be a laundry list of ways that you can have your identity stolen. But will you take the same chances with your identity after knowing better?

We know that paper-based identity theft is big, but online identity theft is growing faster and becoming a bigger issue every year. The tools exist to safeguard your personal information. If you understand the problem, then learn how you can protect yourself, you're a lot further ahead than everyone else. Just because someone might break in to your house through the back door is no reason to leave the front door unlocked. Both are important points of vulnerability.

David: It looks like your products transmit information through your servers. The destination server might not see who I am, but now you have a record of all these supposedly anonymous activities. Doesn't this defeat the purpose? Aren't we just being asked to trust you instead of another Web site operator? Why should we?

Lance: Anonymizer does not store any information about customers' Internet activities. The technology is set up in such a way that it does not monitor, track or store log files in any way, shape or form. For this reason, even if Anonymizer were subpoenaed in order to look-up your Internet history, there would be absolutely nothing there to turn over. I think our 10 year unblemished history of providing privacy without a single breach speaks for itself.

David: I'm curious about this, especially since you're a US-based company. With all the fuss about RIAA demanding Internet access records from ISPs and the extensive terms of the Patriot Act, aren't you required to maintain some record and turn those records over to law enforcement in certain situations?