I just read an article about the Importance of anonymity on the web.. Is it possible to maintain anonymity using services like Ubuntu One, and are there any native system tools within Ubuntu that will help me to maintain privacy and/or anonymity? I'm using Ubuntu 11.10 64bit.
"Internet Privacy" is a very broad issue and some of the tools that can be used to track you are quite sophisticated, and some of the tracking tools do not have anything to do with your OS.
Here are some very broad suggestions
Your ip address is only one piece of data that can be used to track you. I say this because a lot of people suggest TOR. Not that TOR does not have uses mind you, you should at least be aware of it's limitations as well.
If you are going to use tor with any reliability, you really need to read the documentation. Not just the installation guide, but all of the information, including the information of proxies and DNS leaks.
The tor project has very pertinent information on using tor, including this
https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en#warning
In fact, the tor project advises you download the "tor bundle"
https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en
Which includes tor, Vidalia , and patched applications.
Your choice of browser is also important. Some browsers (chrome) "phone home".
http://lifehacker.com/5763452/what-data-does-chrome-send-to-google-about-me
You should take the time to search the information your browser sends.
Your browser settings are important. Most browsers have a privacy mode, you should use it.
The issues here are cookies, flash cookies, html5 cookies.
It is possible for web sites to view your history and bookmarks ;)
What search engine do you use ?
Take a look at this page:
https://www.ixquick.com/eng/protect-privacy.html
Beware your IP address is not the only way you can be tracked.
See
technical details
http://www.ouah.org/incosfingerp.htm
If the above link is a little too technical, see
http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/other/http-headers-for-dummies/
The thing that "hurts" with these tools, the more you try to hide, the more you stand out. Try it, use a proxy server to filter the information your browser sends and you will be more and more unique.
It is extremely difficult to remain anonymous and requires education and diligence.
You can not be anonymous simply by installing an application, you have to change your behaviors as well (see the tor pages I linked).
