I've used OpenDNS and really like it. DNS is basically just a phonebook service for URLs. You give it a url (well, domain name) and it gives you back the IP address. That does mean OpenDNS will have knowledge of every domain you've visited, but right now your ISP does so it's just shifting who knows that information. The actual conversation does not go through OpenDNS so they won't see anything but the requests for domain names.
The primary advantage of OpenDNS is that it can be used to filter domains based on the sort of information that resides there. This is especially useful if you have kids in the house. Just check the box and any attempt to go to a porn site (playboy.com) will end up at a page explaing that it is blocked and why. There are dozens of categories to choose from and you can explicity opt in/out of any domain as well.
Setup is very simple and if you do so with your router, will automatically apply to every machine in the network.
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There is a case where they share your info externally. If you miss type a domain name, end up on their landing page, see an ad, and click on it, they will send some usage data to Yahoo. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/hroberts/2008/09/07/opendns-and-firefox-search/
– hyperslug – 2009-12-20T06:04:20.337