Depends where the proxy servers are based.  If you are surfing via a single proxy located in the US, perhaps your protection is not so great as one might think.  Depends on the provider.  Some have a publicly stated policy of keeping NO logs.  Others keep logs for a finite time.  Depends on the purpose of the proxy - some people use a proxy to bypass the firewalls and mechanisms that their educational institutions or employers put in place to prevent 'time-wasting'.  The logs on those proxy servers ... not such a big deal, really.  If your proxy keeps logs, well, your fate is in their hands and/or the privacy laws (or inter-government cooperation), or lack thereof, in their country.

Again, really serious folks investigate how proxies work and where and when to use them.  Tor is a nifty proxy because its never the same path - plus you're often connecting through boxes that aren't setup to log a damn thing — so the trail runs cold rather fast.

Of course if someone really, really wants to find you and track you, say someone with deep pockets - like say any TLA LEA, all bets are off.  You'll most likely compromise yourself and open your habits to them by falling for a trap they'll lure ya to.  Like say a specially crafted email, or post on a web, with maybe a trickster link...  (totally safe weirdness)

Who is they?  If you are really interested in covering your tracks, you make it as difficult as possible for any interested parties to trace you.  You don't use your ISP's DNS.  You use maybe something like startpage (although I'm personally not all that concerned about using Goog).  You do your surfing via a proxy.  You find a good proxy list versus using a single way-too-popular one.  If you're really serious, you look into Tor.

But isn't truly anonymous surfing an impossibility? Don't they always have traffic history logs on whatever proxy server you go through? I mean, if you choose a proxy server in a notoriously non-regulated country such as Panama, you will be less likely traced, but still can be with enough motivation and vigilance to trace the trail by the authorities?

Uhhh.  Not quite.  Sure, it may provide some search results without invading your privacy or storing your info anywhere (who knows - only their admins do)... BUT ... click on any link to read more on the topic from one and those search results and *poof* Buh-bye anonymity.  You're only anonymous doing the search, but not in reading more — which is what we ALL do when we see a search result that interests us — we CLICK ON IT.

I don't know nuthin' from nuthin' about this here startpage.com.  I merely used a simple test to see how it behaved when I clicked a link from its results.

Try a test yourself.

Do this: visit www.WhatIsMyIp.com - a safe site that provides a handy service for when you wanna know the pubic IP your ISP is dishing you.  Note your very public IP address traceable to you and you alone.

Then go to startpage.com.  Search for 'what is my ip' in the search box.  The first hit should be whatismyip.com  Click on it.  Note the IP address now displayed as yours.

Is the IP address different?  If yes, they are anonymizing your web access and ya can surf safely. 

If the address is the same, you are just as exposed as you were before if you had used Google or what have you - and clicked on the link.

—-
Be clear in your understanding of what you are getting at startpage.com — from my limited testing, it appears to be only a search site that protects you from storing anything at the evvil Google's, Microsoft's and Yahoo's — to name the biggies.  That site offers you no protection whatsoever if you search for pink panties, see a result you like and click on through to surf to www.pinkpanties.wow  The folks at pink panties will put a cookie on your computer and know where ya live, more or less — because there's nuthin associated with your use of startpage.com that prevents that from happening.

Now if you are looking for totally anonymous surfing, so y'know, you can look up how to make a bomb, or wanna check out Ebon's crap because you are ummm, curious, well then the topic you want to look into is a proxy service.  Let's use Goog to find us some.  Use a real proxy like one of those and the IP address that pinkpanties.wow sees might make them think you are in Kansas.  Or Nome.  Or maybe Shenzhen... who knows?  Proxys be random.  Kinda.

There ya go.

Whatever, dude.  Why does anyone need to search completely anonymously?  It's a haven for n'er-do-wells to do their searching and researching.  Bomb-making, child-porn, drugs, snuff films, executions, etc.  I'm not paranoid.  I don't wear a tin-foil hat.  I'm just a realist.  It's an ugly world.

...

Try a test yourself.

Do this: visit www.WhatIsMyIp.com - a safe site that provides a handy service for when you wanna know the pubic IP your ISP is dishing you.  Note your very public IP address traceable to you and you alone.

Then go to startpage.com.  Search for 'what is my ip' in the search box.  The first hit should be whatismyip.com  Click on it.  Note the IP address now displayed as yours.

Is the IP address different?  If yes, they are anonymizing your web access and ya can surf safely. 

If the address is the same, you are just as exposed as you were before if you had used Google or what have you - and clicked on the link.

—-
Be clear in your understanding of what you are getting at startpage.com — from my limited testing, it appears to be only a search site that protects you from storing anything at the evvil Google's, Microsoft's and Yahoo's — to name the biggies.  That site offers you no protection whatsoever if you search for pink panties, see a result you like and click on through to surf to www.pinkpanties.wow  The folks at pink panties will put a cookie on your computer and know where ya live, more or less — because there's nuthin associated with your use of startpage.com that prevents that from happening.

Now if you are looking for totally anonymous surfing, so y'know, you can look up how to make a bomb, or wanna check out Ebon's crap because you are ummm, curious, well then the topic you want to look into is a proxy service.  Let's use Goog to find us some.  Use a real proxy like one of those and the IP address that pinkpanties.wow sees might make them think you are in Kansas.  Or Nome.  Or maybe Shenzhen... who knows?  Proxys be random.  Kinda.

There ya go.

Whatever, dude.  Why does anyone need to search completely anonymously?  It's a haven for n'er-do-wells to do their searching and researching.  Bomb-making, child-porn, drugs, snuff films, executions, etc.  I'm not paranoid.  I don't wear a tin-foil hat.  I'm just a realist.  It's an ugly world.

Sounds like a way for pedophiles and would-be terrorists to look up crap without getting caught.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

~Buffalo Springfield

Okay. I am totally out of it.. I have no idea really what this means..

Been using it for a while.

Please look here: EFF Encrypt the Web with Firefox Everywhere

And you must look here: The SSD Project (super f'n important)

Just found out about this new search engine that seems to allow totally anonymous websurfing.

https://startpage.com/   Note the "s"

Note that in the results, there is a blue proxy button at the end of the description.  Click on it and you maintain your anonyminity.  I cannot guarentee this is true, but so far, so good.  Perhaps someone else may know more ?

Once again, thanks C 2 C !