Another question about computers

[Guest]

Deleted

 

[Chris3798]

The thing that makes me hesitant about postings more pics and sexual dialogue is the thought that at the end of the day it isn't really anonymous. If I post from my home laptop can't it be traced through my ISP to me? I know I am sounding paranoid but would appreciate it if you could explain all this to me please.

Thanks

Your ISP can track your usage, but when you signed up for internet, you and the ISP signed a privacy agreement, so unless you've been committing felonies or crime in general, they have no legal basis for tracking your usage.

 

[Weird Harold]

If I post from my home laptop can't it be traced through my ISP to me? I know I am sounding paranoid but would appreciate it if you could explain all this to me please.

Almost everything you do can be tracked back to you -- whether you're using your own computer and ISP or a public computer at the library or an internet cafe.

However, unless you do something very blatant and or very illegal, you're just one very small tree in a very big forest. If you're not doing something illegal, then you only need to worry about making personal information too easy to get to -- if the bad guys have to work to steal from you and the next tree in the forest is just screaming, "come strip me bare" you're not in much danger.

 

[emap]

Don't do anything illegal, and be careful of who you talk to. So far as I know you have a better chance of talking to a stalker who happens to be a hacker or otherwise computer expert and can get ahold of your IP, with all of the relevant information contained within, like your address, real name, than you do of having the police or government watching you.

Granted such a thing is way more likely to not happen than will happen, still something to keep in mind. Best thing you can do is to simply not share information, if you want to you can share your first name, and the city you live in if it is small the closest large city. That being of course the extent of the information you give out. If you want to meet someone, tell them the meeting location over the phone after talking to them a number of times and you are fairly certain they will actually show up.

I know rather extreme, though talking on the internet is not like talking ina crowded bar, in a bar at most 20 people can get your address or whatever you are talking about. In the internet millions can get all the information you give out, the chances of getting a bad person knowing where you live is increased thousand fold.

 

[SweetErika]

The thing that makes me hesitant about postings more pics and sexual dialogue is the thought that at the end of the day it isn't really anonymous. If I post from my home laptop can't it be traced through my ISP to me? I know I am sounding paranoid but would appreciate it if you could explain all this to me please.

Thanks

Are you talking about the people you're talking with (e.g., the members here/the public at large) tracing you through your posts?

If so, I wouldn't be too concerned about that. Your IP address can give people an idea of your general location and ISP, but the likelihood of an Average Joe tracking you down from that is very slim.

What you need to worry about more is what you reveal about yourself in posts and private conversations. If you're posting pics of your face, details about your real name, city, neighborhood, home, job, etc., you have to remember that someone who's determined can sort through your posts and put all of those bits of info together. In private conversations, you may not want to give your phone number or an email addy that reveals anything about your name or location to anyone.

I do post pics of my face on occasion, and use my first name, but I'm very careful about revealing my specific city, husband's first name, profession and other specifics on my life. My computer and network are very secure, and I don't give my phone number to people I haven't met at least once. I never post anything that I would regret having all over the Internet, or would likely jeopardize my job or relationships. A few people here have my personal info (and I have theirs), but those are special situations.

In short, I've decided what I will and won't give out, and I try not to put out enough little pieces for someone to get an idea of my identity. I've learned along the way, and so far, it's worked very well for me.

If you take some care and use good common sense, you're very unlikely to have problems.

 

[Reba67]

I used to work for an ISP. If I had wanted, I *could* read our customers' emails or track what sites they were viewing. But honestly? You aren't all that interesting. The only time we actually were tracking anything was when we had an employee who was up to "something" and we needed to figure out what. But do be careful about how much detail you post about yourself.

 

[necroerotica]

As a very general rule, assume that *everything* you put across the interweb *is* recorded somewhere, and *can* be traced.

HOWEVER, the offset to this is - it requires a great deal of time, money, and specialised tools for joe blogg's to do so. Just like real life.

Unless you happen to say something rude about the current US president.

In which case they'll be knocking at your door defore you press the 'send' button.

Allegedly.

 

[SubNebGuy]

FYI, most ISP's don't give you a static IP address anymore unless you request/pay for it.
So every time you lose power, or turn off the cable/DSL modem, you more than likely get a new IP address when you turn it back on.

Its not a perfect 'mask' but it does add another layer of complexity that the average person will never know how to get past, to figure out who you are.

 

[Reba67]

FYI, most ISP's don't give you a static IP address anymore unless you request/pay for it.
So every time you lose power, or turn off the cable/DSL modem, you more than likely get a new IP address when you turn it back on.

Its not a perfect 'mask' but it does add another layer of complexity that the average person will never know how to get past, to figure out who you are.

Not sure where you're getting your info, but most of our competitors gave clients static IPs as did we.

If you're truly worried about security, you shouldn't be worried about the "average person", you should be worried about the geeks with too much time on their hands.

 

[mjl2010]

Supposedly, my IP is dynamic, Yet it hasn't changed in over a year.

Realistically, you're more like a single leaf in a forest than a single tree. But it's not a stretch either.

Don't give out personal stuff. address, phone stuff like that and most likely you'll be fine. when using credit cards or other things, make sure your browser is connected to a secure server.

Look for https:// instead of http:// and you're in fairly good shape. And never give that info out to places that solicit you through your email.

MJL

 

[alaskabibear]

Supposedly, my IP is dynamic, Yet it hasn't changed in over a year.

Realistically, you're more like a single leaf in a forest than a single tree. But it's not a stretch either.

Don't give out personal stuff. address, phone stuff like that and most likely you'll be fine. when using credit cards or other things, make sure your browser is connected to a secure server.

Look for https:// instead of http:// and you're in fairly good shape. And never give that info out to places that solicit you through your email.

MJL

What is the "https" as opposed to "http" ?

 

[mjl2010]

What is the "https" as opposed to "http" ?

The "s" stands for secure. It means your data is transmitted using a "key" that only your computer and the one receiving the data have. The data is encrypted before transmission. That way, no one but you or the receiving computer can read it.

MJL

 

[alaskabibear]

The "s" stands for secure. It means your data is transmitted using a "key" that only your computer and the one receiving the data have. The data is encrypted before transmission. That way, no one but you or the receiving computer can read it.

MJL

Thanks for the info. I don't think I've ever noticed a site with an "https" address. Is this mostly used by banks and such?

Interesting topic though, makes me wonder; just how easy is it to intercept messages sent over the web (like this one to this site for example). And how do you prevent it if you wanted to?

 

[Weird Harold]

Interesting topic though, makes me wonder; just how easy is it to intercept messages sent over the web (like this one to this site for example). And how do you prevent it if you wanted to?

Plain text and simple HTML like the posts in this forum or comments/feedback on the stories is almost rediculously easy to intercept and monitor -- the only illusion of privacy anyone has in this kind of context is "herd safety;" the hope that the predators will single out someone else from the milling mass.

There are programs monitoting internet traffic looking for keywords and "anomalies" in the same way that predators look over a herd of prey for the old, young, or crippled -- anything hat makes youstand out from the "Herd" will get you eaten.

The only way to prevent monitoring of plain text and simple HTML is to close your internet service account and stop posting entirely.

If you want to avoid casual snoopers on private exchanges -- e-mail, PMs in a forum like this, or Instant Messaging, there are several encryption programs that are good enough to keep your information private from everyone except specialists with super-computers (aka the NSA or other government agency.) The drawback to using encryption between private indiviuals is that it is likely to trip a monitoring program's warning flag and attract the kind of attention you're trying to avoid. The monitoring programs expect encryption on some webpages or in communications between individuals and corporations, but encrypted traffic between individuals is unusual enough to investigate.

(Which is stupid really, because only the most unsophisticated criminals/terrorists don't realize that encryption implies having something to hide.)

 

[alaskabibear]

Plain text and simple HTML like the posts in this forum or comments/feedback on the stories is almost rediculously easy to intercept and monitor -- the only illusion of privacy anyone has in this kind of context is "herd safety;" the hope that the predators will single out someone else from the milling mass.

There are programs monitoting internet traffic looking for keywords and "anomalies" in the same way that predators look over a herd of prey for the old, young, or crippled -- anything hat makes youstand out from the "Herd" will get you eaten.

The only way to prevent monitoring of plain text and simple HTML is to close your internet service account and stop posting entirely.

If you want to avoid casual snoopers on private exchanges -- e-mail, PMs in a forum like this, or Instant Messaging, there are several encryption programs that are good enough to keep your information private from everyone except specialists with super-computers (aka the NSA or other government agency.) The drawback to using encryption between private indiviuals is that it is likely to trip a monitoring program's warning flag and attract the kind of attention you're trying to avoid. The monitoring programs expect encryption on some webpages or in communications between individuals and corporations, but encrypted traffic between individuals is unusual enough to investigate.

(Which is stupid really, because only the most unsophisticated criminals/terrorists don't realize that encryption implies having something to hide.)

Well this is just what I need! Now I have to try and convince myself that my wandering thoughts and sexual fantasies don't warrant any interest. Or conversely, hope that they do warrant interest and then worry about the hoards of snoopers monitoring my every word...Oh Harold, why did you have to tell me the truth when a lie would suffice?

 

[Weird Harold]

Oh Harold, why did you have to tell me the truth when a lie would suffice?

'Cause the Truth is easier to remember?