Leave no Traces Behind
September 22nd 2006 02:56
Ever thought when you surfed the net someone knew what you were looking at what you were browsing and more worryingly knowing where you lived down to the city?
As frightening as it may be it’s quite standard that most webmasters can tell who you are by your computer. It is definitely a concern for your privacy though if it would affect you in a negative way is yet to be seen.
How does it work? Well if you visit a website more than once they know you are a return user by your IP address range, if you’d like to know what your IP address is right now go to www.whatismyip.com. If you notice if you turn your modem off then on and check your IP adress you'll notice it is different however it doesn’t change the IP range which still indicates you are the same person, or one who lives really close to the same person.
Generally there is nothing wrong with it at all unless you are doing something illegal. It is one of the big questions in the world of internet security. To what degree should people know what we have been doing and surfing on the net? Most websites do collect information about you but to what degree do they and how can they use it?
Well it depends how paranoid you are in a literal sense, is it alright in your opinion for people to be looking at your internet browsing habits? What websites you go to and what you do? Are you willing to risk the fact this information can be used against you either in an illicit way or perhaps simply so that you are sent advertisements based on your surfing habits? For instance if you like looking at refrigerators on the internet you’ll get advertisements advertising fridges.
If you are not concerned about such details of yourself being exposed to other (potentially unscrupulous) people it’s all well and good, but most people are worried it can get worse and more details can be discovered. In some cases this is true and a ‘better safe than sorry’ mantra is probably the best way to go.
There are many bits and pieces of software you often can purchase that will help you browse the web safely and anonymously, however a new program which is a variation of the ever more popular Mozilla Firefox internet browser called Torpark. This free utility creates an encrypted connection to the internet from your computer allowing you to browse the web anonymously.
It is a solution to big brothers prying eyes, but only if you are so inclined to try.
As frightening as it may be it’s quite standard that most webmasters can tell who you are by your computer. It is definitely a concern for your privacy though if it would affect you in a negative way is yet to be seen.
How does it work? Well if you visit a website more than once they know you are a return user by your IP address range, if you’d like to know what your IP address is right now go to www.whatismyip.com. If you notice if you turn your modem off then on and check your IP adress you'll notice it is different however it doesn’t change the IP range which still indicates you are the same person, or one who lives really close to the same person.
Generally there is nothing wrong with it at all unless you are doing something illegal. It is one of the big questions in the world of internet security. To what degree should people know what we have been doing and surfing on the net? Most websites do collect information about you but to what degree do they and how can they use it?
Don't let him know where you have been
If you are not concerned about such details of yourself being exposed to other (potentially unscrupulous) people it’s all well and good, but most people are worried it can get worse and more details can be discovered. In some cases this is true and a ‘better safe than sorry’ mantra is probably the best way to go.
There are many bits and pieces of software you often can purchase that will help you browse the web safely and anonymously, however a new program which is a variation of the ever more popular Mozilla Firefox internet browser called Torpark. This free utility creates an encrypted connection to the internet from your computer allowing you to browse the web anonymously.
It is a solution to big brothers prying eyes, but only if you are so inclined to try.
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Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
*nervously looks behind his shoulder, and releases safety catch on his gun*
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
FOr instance do you want to login everytime you come to orble or would you like it to be done automatically?
Or when you search something on google don't you want the most accurate results? To do that google does actually collect information on everyones searches, however most recently I was very worried that google has started using individual peoples search histories to make searches more accurate.
For instnace 'Java' is a type of cofee, a city (I think) and a programming language. If you have searched for tourism in the past java will show you the city of java, if you have searched for computer programming in the past and search java you'll get java the programming language instead. It is kind of scary...
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
If you notice google is run by computer geeks bottom to top so there really isn't that big of a worry... yet. Now if bill gates bought google out...
Comment by Jay
For instance, if a site asks you for your bank details you don't give them unless you trust the site you are on. If they ask you whether you prefer cats or dogs feel free to give this information as it is fairly harmless and might make YOUR life easier.
The more worrying extension of this is the other day I was on a site that had a message at the top saying "We can deliver to Altrincham" or something similar. I live in Altrincham. They must have determined this information somehow from my IP address, because I have never entered my postal address on that site. Scary...
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Comment by Giraffe Boy
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
If you use a program like torpak it'll slow your internet connection down but completely hide your IP addrss and mask it as something else.
I think a program called 'whois' can determine everything you can determine from someones IP address...
Comment by Giraffe Boy
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
I should write something about it in the near future too...