What is an anonymous remailer? 

An anonymous remailer (also called an "anonymous server") 
is a free computer service that privatizes your e-mail. 
A remailer allows you to send electronic mail to a Usenet 
news group or to a person without the recipient knowing 
your name or your e-mail address. 

Why would YOU use remailers? 

Maybe you're a computer engineer who wants to express 
opinions about computer products, opinions that your 
employer might hold against you. Possibly you live in a 
community that is violently intolerant of your social, 
political, or religious views. Perhaps you're seeking 
employment via the Internet and you don't want to 
jeopardize your present job. Possibly you want to place 
personal ads. Perchance you're a whistle-blower afraid of 
retaliation. Conceivably you feel that, if you criticize 
your government, Big Brother will monitor you. Maybe you 
don't want people "flaming" your corporate e-mail 
address. In short, there are many legitimate reasons why 
you, a law abiding person, might use remailers. 

How does a remailer work? 

Let's take an example. A popular Internet remailer is run 
by Johan Helsingius, President of a Helsinki, Finland 
company that helps businesses connect to the Internet. 
His " This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it " addresses are common in 
controversial news groups. Suppose you read a post from 
a battered woman crying out for 
help. You can write her at . 
Helsingius' computer will STRIP AWAY your real name and 
address (the header at the top of your e-mail), replace 
this data with a dummy address, and forward your message 
to the battered woman. Helsingius' computer will notify 
you of your new anonymous address; e.g., 
. You can use Helsingius' free 
service to forward letters to anyone, even to persons who 
do not use his service. His computer sends each user 
detailed instructions about his system. 


Are there many remailers? 

Currently, there are roughly a dozen active, PUBLIC 
remailers on the Internet. (Undoubtedly, there are many 
PRIVATE remailers that restrict who may use them.) 
Remailers tend to come and go. First, they require 
equipment and labor to set up and maintain; second, they 
produce zero revenue. 

Why are remailers free? 

There is a simple answer. How can remailer administrators 
charge people who want maximum privacy? Administrators 
can't ask for a Visa number or take checks. 

Why do people operate remailers, if not for money? 

People set up remailers for their own personal usage, 
which they may or may not care to share with the rest of 
us. Joshua Quittner, co-author of the high-tech thriller 
MOTHER'S DAY, interviewed Mr. Helsingius for WIRED 
magazine. Helsingius said: 

"It's important to be able to express certain 
views without everyone knowing who you are. 
One of the best examples was the great debate 
about Caller ID on phones. People were really 
upset that the person at the receiving end 
would know who was calling. On things like 
telephones, people take for granted the fact 
that they can be anonymous if they want to and 
they get really upset if people take that 
away. I think the same thing applies for e- 
mail." 

"Living in Finland, I got a pretty close view 
of how things were in the former Soviet Union. 
If you actually owned a photocopier or even a 
typewriter there you would have to register it 
and they would take samples of what your 
typewriter would put out so they could 
identify it later. That's something I find so 
appalling. The fact that you have to register 
every means of providing information to the 
public sort of parallels it, like saying you 
have to sign everything on the Net. We always 
have to be able to track you down." 

What makes an "ideal" anonymous remailer? 
An "ideal" anonymous remailer is: (a) Easy to use. (b) 
Run by a reliable individual whose system actually does 
what it promises. In addition, this person should have 
the computer expertise to take prudent steps to safeguard 
your privacy from civilian or government hackers. (c) 
Able to forward your messages in a timely manner. By 
"timely" I mean minutes or hours. (d) Holds your messages 
for a RANDOM time before forwarding them. This time lag 
makes it harder for snoops to link a message that arrives 
at, say, 3:00 P.M. with a message that leaves your 
machine at, say, 2:59 P.M. (e) Permits (better yet 
encourages!) PGP encryption software. If a remailer does 
NOT permit PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), reasonable people 
might assume that the remailer administrator enjoys 
reading forwarded mail. 

What makes a responsible remailer user? 

A responsible user: (a) Sends text files of a reasonable 
length. Binary files take too much transmission time. (b) 
Transmits files selectively. Remailers are NOT designed 
to send "You Can Get Rich" chain letters or other junk 
mail. 

Who are irresponsible remailer users? 

Here is a quote from one remailer administrator: 

"This remailer has been abused in the past, mostly by 
users hiding behind anonymity to harass other users. I 
will take steps to squish users who do this.  Lets keep 
the net a friendly and productive place.... Using this 
remailer to send death threats is highly obnoxious.  I 
will reveal your return address to the police if you do 
this." 

Legitimate remailer administrators will NOT TOLERATE 
harassment or criminal activity. Report any such 
incidents to the remailer administrator. 

How safe are anonymous remailers? [for paranoids only :-)] 

For most low-security tasks, such as responding to 
personal ads, remailers are undoubtedly safer than using 
real e-mail addresses. However, all the best made plans 
of mice and men have weaknesses. Suppose, for example, 
that you are a government employee, who just discovered 
that your boss is taking bribes. Is it safe to use an 
anonymous remailer to send evidence to a government 
whistleblower's e-mail hot line? Here are a few points to 
ponder: 

(a) The person who runs your e-mail system might 
intercept your secret messages to and from the anonymous 
remailer. This gives him proof that YOU are reporting 
your corrupt boss. This evidence could put you in danger. 

(b) It is possible that the anonymous remailer is a 
government sting operation or a criminal enterprise, 
designed to entrap people. The person who runs this 
service might be your corrupt boss' partner. 

(c) Hackers can do magic with computers. It's possible 
that hackers have broken into the remailer (unbeknownst 
to the remailer's administrator) and that they can read 
your messages at will. 

Hard-core privacy people do not trust individual 
remailers. These people write programs that send their 
messages through several remailers. This way only the 
first remailer knows their real address, and the first 
remailer cannot know the final destination of the e-mail 
message. In addition, they PGP encrypt all messages. 

Where can I learn more? 

Go to the Usenet news group ALT.PRIVACY.ANON-SERVER. Pay 
special attention to posts by Raph Levien, "The Remailer 
Guru." 

Where can I get a list of current remailers? 

Raph Levien [see above] generously runs a remailer 
pinging service which collects details about remailer 
features and reliability. To read Levien's data, finger: 

. 

There is also a Web version of the same information, at: 

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~raph/remailer-list.html 

In addition, Raph Levien 
regularly posts his "List of Reliable Remailers" at 
ALT.PRIVACY.ANON-SERVER. 

Anything else I should know? 

YOUR privacy and safety are in danger! The black market 
price for your IRS records is $500. YOUR medical records 
are even cheaper. Prolific bank, credit and medical 
databases, the Clipper Chip Initiative, computer matching 
programs, cordless & cellular phone scanners, Digital 
Telephony legislation, and (hidden) video surveillance 
are just a few factors that threaten every law abiding 
citizen. Our anti-privacy society gives criminals and 
snoops computer data about YOU on a silver platter. 

If you want to protect your privacy, I urge you to join 
organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation 
and Computer Professionals for 
Social Responsibility . 

*************************************************************** 
Andre Bacard               Bacard wrote "The Computer Privacy 
Box 3009                   Handbook: A Practical Guide to E-Mail 
Stanford, CA 94309         Encryption, Data Protection, and PGP 
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it            Privacy Software" [for novices/experts]. 

Introduction by Mitchell Kapor, Co-Founder of Electronic Frontier 
Foundation and Creator of Lotus 1-2-3. 

Book Available Spring 1995. Write for Details 

[Bacard has been interviewed on hundreds of radio-talk shows about 
his previous book ("Hunger for Power"), technology, and society.]