Internet anonymizer for privacy?

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I am currently living with my parents. It is awkward.

And it seems to me that one way to have additional realm or field of privacy would be an Internet anonymizer. For example, even if someone was tech savvy enough to pull up a history from a router (?) and my parents do sometimes have a friend come over to help them with computer issues, it would not show what mail accounts or discussion boards I had been at.

Any suggestions?

Tor (anonymity network)

It isn't perfect though. The wikipedia article elaborates

TOR would be good but I do not think thats what the person needs.

What you should be worried about is the web browser history, cookies and temp files (files downloaded to the computer to show the web page). As a computer tech myself, it doesn't take much effort to know every web site a person visisted (within 20 days usually) from those files. If you are worried about someone like me, finding out by accident or on purpose what you have been looking at then you need a program like CCleaner. Do not have the web site, but a Google search should be no problem.

It will erase the files and history on the computer so good that it would look like you never use the web browser. Now two things to keep in mind:

1.) You have to use CCleaner every time you get done using the internet to browse the web.

2.) Do not bookmnark any web sites that you do not want other people to know that you visit.

3.) Do not use a email program to receive your email. Use a web based service to send and receive emails. Like Yahoo or Google Mail.

Thanks for the responses guys. Actually, I do have my own computer with my own password.

So, the issue of someone pulling a history from a router or hub (and I don't know which one we have), I take is not that big an issue? If it matters, we have AT&T with the triple play of phone, cable, and Internet.

Google the model number of the router, locate the manufacturer's support page and download the PDF user manual. Most domestic routers do not support logging of all traffic - they might log incoming connection attempts, or other potential malicious traffic, but not all outgoing regular use.

Anybody with physical access to your computer can (with a little technical knowledge) boot it up from a CD and read your internet history, email, etc., so physical security of the machine is important. More complex alternatives are to regularly housekeep your history (e.g. the "Keep history until I close Firefox" option) or encrypting a portion of the hard disc.

Ideally you should develop some mutual trust with your parents so that they are sufficiently aware of what you do on the internet that they have no interest in reading the contents. Much safer all round.

Yes, that would be nice. But that's a little bit easier said than done!