Proxy anonymity: transparent, anonymous, elite
Anonymity describes how much a proxy reveals to the destination. It's graded by inspecting the forwarding headers the proxy injects when it relays your request.
Transparent
The proxy forwards your real IP — typically in X-Forwarded-For or
X-Real-IP. The destination both knows you're using a proxy and sees who you are.
Offers no privacy.
Anonymous
The proxy announces itself, for example with a Via header, but does not leak your real
IP. The destination knows a proxy is in use, but not the origin.
Elite (high-anonymity)
No proxy-revealing headers at all — the request looks like a direct connection from the proxy's exit IP. This is what tunnels such as CONNECT and SOCKS5 naturally provide.
How it's detected
The checker routes each proxy to an echo endpoint and reads exactly which headers arrived. If a forwarding header exposes an address other than the proxy's exit, it's transparent; if proxy headers are present but no foreign IP leaks, it's anonymous; if none are present, it's elite.
Frequently asked questions
Can a proxy be fast but still transparent?
Yes. Speed and anonymity are separate. A proxy can answer quickly while still forwarding your real IP in X-Forwarded-For or similar headers.
Should I trust the label without checking headers myself?
Use the label as a summary, then inspect the proxy headers output when the traffic is important. That view shows exactly which forwarded headers were observed.