Re:Web-Based Privacy Solutions vs ZeroKnowledge (Score 1)

I appreciate your skepticism over SafeWeb as privacy advocates and would like to clarify several legitimate concerns you raise.

(1) SafeWeb is a filter proxy and more. It not only rewrites HTML but also is the first to seriously rewrite and sanitize all DHTML (our unique achievement). It also encrypts all content with up to 128 bit SSL protecting you against dangers bigger than DoubleClick like invasive employers, IT staff, ISPs, governments, etc.

(2) Anyone you trust your data stream to is in a position to abuse it including SafeWeb. ZeroKnowledge has designed an elegant system that makes this much less likely, but ultimately some trust must be vested in all these systems.

(3) SafeWeb targets ads based upon content, not cookies. We can accurately target a Nike Tiger Woods ad based upon the fact we are serving up Yahoo:Sports:Golf rather than knowing anything about who is viewing this page. This is more than sustainable.

(4) SafeWeb is a web-based privacy product and is not intended to secure NNTP, IRC, SMTP, or FTP. However, it can secure web-based news, chat, mail, and ftp via your browser which is the ubiquitous Internet application.

(5) Anonymizer, ProxyMate, and others predate SafeWeb, but they are not encrypted nor do they rewrite DHTML so most sites break or are passed unsecured. This is why we make the claim of "first".

I apologize for inflaming the many passionate supporters of ZeroKnowledge. It is a technically elegant product that works well in specific situations. SafeWeb's strength is its effectiveness, free accessibility, and ease of use for general situations. This is the fundamental distinction I think is reasonable to draw without slighting either side unfairly. Let's take this discussion off-line; please email any serious follow-ups or inquires to [e-mail].