Internet Privacy Question

[OneFinger]

I'm currently running Windows XP SP2 behind a firewall. But last night I was visiting an adult site that has a chat window that is integrated to their page while you're browsing their site.

 

I noticed a couple of guys chatting about user name and one of them said, "Let me see where he's at". He came back to the chat window a couple minutes later and then gave the name of my ISP provider and said, "Ya, he's here in the USA."

 

I was not participating in the chat window - it was merely a small portion of the website screen that I couldn't disable. But, how can someone track down my IPS and general location? I don't list my location in my profile for that site and have a user name that is unique to that site and not a "shared" profile like I use here, MER, and similar sites.

 

If they can find out my ISP, what other info can be easily accessed and determined when visiting sites? Are there changes I need to make to my computer settings to further protect myself?

[Guest greatness]

well

 

An IP address shows one's location but it doesn't show your home address or your real identity. One has to contact Internet Service Provider (ISP) to find out more info on an IP address. These days a lot of blogs and website sites have IP tracker programs. There are also programs that can create a map that shows location of people on that site. I don't think you don't have to worry too much. There are some escorts and their friends really good at this so you can ask them for help privately. There are people who do illegal things and spread one's personal information to other people. They don't get too far though and get into trouble soon or later so don't worry too much. Things they can do are pretty limited without being caught. If they do something illegal report to your local authority and ISP. If they scare you to reveal your personal information do not take it seriously. They are incriminating themselves by saying so.

[+ Hoover42]

Whenever you surf the web, your browser sends your IP address to the server which then returns the page you requested to that address. If the web page has an embedded chat window, any administrators on the system can see your IP address. Once they have that, they can look it up using Arin WHOIS (http://ws.arin.net/whois/) or some other tool like Inforsniper (http://www.infosniper.net/)

 

Note also that most web servers maintain logs of everyone who visited the site and so site administrators can go back at any point and see every time you visited the site and what pages you viewed.

 

Of course, many sites are anonymous, so they only know "you" from your IP address which is often randomly assigned (within a certain range) to users from the same provider (say, Comcast). The web site administrators don't know your name or where you live, etc. unless you have some sort of account that you use to login, then your personal information from that account can then be tied back to your IP address. Some sites use the IP address to try to detect fraud by looking for different IP addresses used by the same account.

 

The only way you can prevent web servers from getting your IP address is by using one or more proxy servers such as http://www.anonymizer.com/.

 

Yes, privacy is hard to maintain once you start using the web.

[+ Lucky]

We used to be able to see the IP address of the posters here, but management disabled the function a long time ago. They still have it, though.

That's how they find out who is double-posting!

[+ deej]

As others have said, the TCP/IP protocol does give a web admin some specific data about your location. (It was funded/developed by the Dept. of Defense, after all!) A competent server operator can derive enough information about your location to call in an air strike.

 

Fortunately, there aren't many server operators with that much in-depth knowledge.

 

Proxy services like anonymizer purport to "hide" you but they actually make you more conspicuous because the "surface" information doesn't match the other data about you. (The carpet doesn't match the drapes, as they say.)

 

This all leads to two points:

 

1. If you're doing something and you're afraid of being caught doing it then don't do it. You can be caught and the records last forever.

 

2. The best way to secure your privacy is not to go online at all. In space, nobody can hear you scream. Online, everyone knows who you are.

 

(OK, three...)

 

3. It takes time, interest, and effort to research/trace an online user. Time and effort are generally in short supply so don't cause interest.

[instudiocity]

West Hollywood

 

When you trace my IP address it says I'm in West Hollywood. I'm actually 6 or 7 miles northeast of WeHo in the San Fernando Valley.

 

Those of you running Mac OS X 10.6 will find that your Date & Time Preferences can automatically locate you to the Time Zone and Closet City if you've selected that preference in the Time Zone panel.

 

So when I'm on the road, my laptop knows where I am. It also freaks some people out because my mail program time dates my emails to the time zone I was in when I sent the email. Kinda fun!

[OneFinger]

Thanks for the informative replies.

 

But, my real question is how a "novice" (not site administrator) can figure out my ISP. Is there a series of keystrokes anyone can use to determine the ISP of another? I was really taken aback when someone could figure out my ISP from (apparently) just a chat window or visiting a site.

 

And, a few years ago, there was someone on this site that actually tracked and intercepted my M4M e-mail address. They eventually uncovered my "real" e-mail address, real name, employer, and much more info than I really want them to know.

 

So, when I see someone on a site that is able to determine my ISP, I get concerned.

 

Finally, on the subject of privacy, I had a relative just last week mention they didn't know I had lived in ____________. Well, I had actually never lived in the location they mentioned but did have a friend that lived there (30 years ago). I had a package for me delivered to that location while on vacation in the late '70's. I'm totally amazed that 30 years later, it is now showing on "People Search" type sites as a former residence for me.

 

I suspect that data mining on old records is being done and they're using computer technology to link personal data. Just be aware that even 30 years later, your personal info may be linked to your current data.

[+ deej]

The only way for anyone to get your IP address is for the site to expose it.

 

I'd bet that "chat" you observed was a ginned up artificial chat and the conversation was machine generated. They used your IP on the server side to make up the chat because it's you that was watching.

 

That kind of demo always pisses me off and skeeves me just a bit. Who thought this was a good idea?

[OneFinger]

The only way for anyone to get your IP address is for the site to expose it.

 

I'd bet that "chat" you observed was a ginned up artificial chat and the conversation was machine generated. They used your IP on the server side to make up the chat because it's you that was watching.

 

That kind of demo always pisses me off and skeeves me just a bit. Who thought this was a good idea?

 

THANK YOU for that explanation. Makes total sense and I'm willing to bet that's what happened. I didn't know that kind of technology was in use.

[+ deej]

THANK YOU for that explanation. Makes total sense and I'm willing to bet that's what happened. I didn't know that kind of technology was in use.

 

It's pretty common in banner advertising.

 

"Meet singles in <your town here>" is an example.

[SFSteve]

One company that provides mapping of your IP address to a physical location is Quova. Among their customers is Major League Baseball. The MLB black-out rules for doing internet streaming video feeds can be complicated. If you go to http://www.quova.com they will display your IP address on their front page. If you follow the "Find out what it tells us" link, it will tell you some of what it knows about your location. It missed me by about 60 miles.