Anonymizer Launches Revolutionary New Privacy Manager – the Internet Users’ Equivalent to the FTC’s “Do Not Call” List

Anonymizer Integrates Core Technology with Advanced Features to Offer Consumers the Ultimate Convenience and Assurance of Online Privacy Protection

San Diego, CA—October 6, 2003—Anonymizer®, Inc., a leading provider of anonymous Web surfing and online privacy protection, today announced Privacy Manager?”, a customizable privacy system that runs invisibly while users surf the Web. It provides consumers with the highest degree of protection from the ever-increasing variety and sophistication of Web-based online threats.

Privacy Manager is an innovative service that protects consumers and businesses against all forms of Web threats and annoyances, including ads, pop-ups, advertiser tracking and personal profiling, and aggressive hacker attacks intended to damage or control people’s computers.

Industry Issues: Why Consumers Need Privacy Manager

The FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry will force the direct marketing industry to refocus their activities online to compensate for the lack of phone access to potential customers. This increased intensity of online marketing makes protecting your online privacy and personal information more important than ever. Now is the time for consumers to “unlist” their Internet address, much like caller ID-blocking, to stop email harvesting by spammers and other intrusive predatory and marketing practices.

There is significant confusion regarding what computer users need for protection against online threats. Most users are familiar with anti-virus and firewall products to secure their computers. The missing but critical piece of the puzzle is how to protect user’s personal privacy and identity, beyond simply protecting the computer. With Anonymizer’s Privacy Manager, users receive the highest level of privacy protection, ensuring they are protected from hacking and tracking by the sites they visit.

Using increasingly sophisticated technology, marketers and criminals are easily able to access private and personal information from anyone they choose. Recent studies have shown that over 90% of Web sites gather personal information. Almost all major Web sites enable third-party tracking through remote images and Web bugs. The average person has already received several scam emails directing them to forged Web sites.

“The vast majority of consumers are completely unaware of the level of tracking and information harvesting and selling taking place,” said Lance Cottrell, president and founder of Anonymizer, Inc. “Protecting yourself, your personal information and your identity is more important than protecting your computer. When you go to a Web site, there may be several other companies watching your every click. There is no restriction of their rights to use or sell that information.”

Cottrell continued: “Even medical and financial sites are not protected. And the costs, for example of identity theft, can be devastating.”

How Privacy Manager Protects You From Threats

Privacy Manager is a service that runs invisibly (in the background) to provide a host of protection features for users while surfing the Web. Just like a virus protection program that works “behind the scenes” to thwart viruses from reaching a computer, Privacy Manager works without having to think about it so that users can freely surf the Web with the confidence that they are completely protected, shielding the user from all privacy threats.

The Privacy Manager service includes features such as hiding a user’s personal computer Internet address, pop-up and ad blocking, and military-grade file shredding to erase all traces of Web surfing, including cookies, tracking bugs, scripts, temporary files and more – all of which are commonly-used marketing and criminal abuses.

“This is the ultimate, all-in-one privacy solution for both individuals and businesses,” said Bill Unrue, chief executive officer of Anonymizer. “Privacy Manager takes care of you and your computer in the ever-escalating battle between you and spammers, online marketers and identity thieves. And, it eliminates the hassle of buying individual programs that might conflict with one another. All you need to do is sign up for this all-inclusive service and let it do all the work.”

Privacy Manager – Features

Privacy Manager includes powerful, state-of-the-art protection features. It

· Runs automatically and transparently on your PC (always “on”);
· Provides superior pop-up and ad blocking capabilities;
· Stops spammers from harvesting your email address from your browser;
· Removes cookies and tracking files using a special “system sweeper” technology;
· Filters and blocks cookies, ads and tracking bugs downloaded to your computer by Web sites;
· Keeps your Internet address private and unlisted;
· Blocks malicious code or scripts on your PC.

Additionally, Privacy Manager offers customizable features so the user can assign specific levels of privacy and security for each Web site they visit. For example, if the user often visits a site they trust, such as their bank’s Web site, they can assign a lower level of privacy protection. For the sites that require enhanced protection, such as an aggressive marketing site, a higher level of privacy can be assigned, including the ability to block them entirely.

If the user chooses to allow Privacy Manager to do all the work for them, there is a Global Privacy Level option that automatically assigns a medium level of privacy to all sites visited. Anonymizer offers free downloads for particular sites with a recommended level of privacy that has been predetermined by Anonymizer according to the threat level of those sites; however, users are always able to change the privacy level themselves if they choose. The recommended sites list is continually updated and allows users to download updates with a click of the mouse.

Price and Availability

Privacy Manager is available now at www.anonymizer.com for an introductory price of $49.99 for a year-long subscription. Program updates are automatically included for paying subscribers.

Anonymizer offers a free Privacy Analyzer for consumers who are interested in viewing the threats that are posed by each site they visit. The program counts and displays all privacy threats like pop-ups, cookies and scripts in an easy to read, real-time list. If consumers aren’t convinced of the amount of tracking devices and threats that may exist on the sites they often visit, they can first download the Privacy Analyzer at www.anonymizer.com/privacyanalyzer. Once people are able to preview the threats, they can easily upgrade to Privacy Manager to prevent and eliminate them.