Bridging the gap between anonymous e-mail and anonymous web browsing

Purpose - This paper aims to propose an anonymous web-browsing protocol that harnesses some of the advantages of store-and-forward anonymity solutions whilst retaining some of the interactive properties of web browsing. Anonymity research on high latency, store-and-forward mediums such as e-mail have led to comparatively well-researched anonymity technologies. However, similar achievements have proven to be more difficult for low-latency communications such as web browsing. Design/methodology/approach - A review of existing anonymity solutions notes the advantages of mix technologies versus the advantages offered by Onion Routing. A solution is presented that features a combined approach of both solutions. Findings - The proposed protocol differentiates between web requests and web responses - a request is treated as a store-and-forward message whilst the response is handled as a data stream. Originality/value - The solution described can be used by existing anonymous web browsing solutions in order to improve the level of anonymity whilst minimising the overhead of anonymously distributing web content.