1) Avoid using your real name. In fact, you should avoid using even the name of a friend, a relation or your pet. Invent an unlikely username or alias.

2) Don't use your private e-mail address or one like alex@company.com, which has your employer's name in it. Create a special e-mail account that you will only use at adult websites. For example, use Hotmail or Gmail. They are both anonymous, free and cannot be traced back to you.

3) Always read a website's policy on privacy and the terms of its service. Those pages should tell you how the site will handle your personal information or your request for a refund. Be on the alert if a site's policy or terms page is too long, too short, vague, unnecessarily legal-sounding or if it contains errors.

4) Whenever possible, use an anonymous service like PayPal to make payments on the internet. If I stopped you in the street and asked for your credit card details, you wouldn't give them to me. Likewise, if you must pay by credit card or through a bank account, you should find out something about the website beforehand. Also acquaint yourself with its payment policy. For example, if you plan to make recurring payments, be aware of the frequency at which the site will bill your card or your bank account. It might not look good for your monthly statement to contain a dozen transactions of an erotic nature. Find out, in advance, how payments will show up in your statement.

5) If you order erotic goods, use a post box or secret shipping address rather than your home or work address.

6) Never visit adult websites at your office or workplace. Unless, of course, you are in the adult business yourself.

7) After you visit an adult website, delete the contents of your browser's cookie, cache and history folders. You can easily find out how to do so from the Internet Explorer website, the Firefox website, and so on.

Alex Dee is Chief Developer at http://www.xqst.com, a new online service that delivers adult material anonymously. He has 5 years' experience as Developer, Webmaster and Customer-Security specialist.