well, even the safety issue being solved, you don't know if the proxy is any good. there have been tests where the proxy showed you were properly hidden but it was a small matter to find out your true ip address. and again, if you use an anonymous proxy, you're just raising red flags all over the place, since of course the ip pools of the anonymous proxys are well known by those that care about such things.

Take a look here. The program is called proxyway (free version) and it checks proxies off of given websites to see if they are active, what their speed is.. Then you can apply them to your system

If you think about it this way, then every free program could POTENTIALLY transmit your data to its author.. If you are so concerned about that, block it from accessing the net and see what connections it makes

heh. when you get into realms of hacking/cracking (i've been thier) you come in contact with alot of shady programs/authors you really just need to know that no one is above using thier program for devious means