Hiding in Plain Sight
Is my personal information safe when I go online?
Hey Paul:
I have a complaint I'd like to file against a company, and I would like for them not to be able to obtain my IP address or personal info when sending email. Is that possible? Can it be done for free?
Dear Larry:
Just to confirm: when you say ‘IP,’ you probably mean the so-called ‘internet protocol’ address that your computer is assigned when it connects to the world wide web. That IP address, which is a series of numbers, changes every time you sign off and then sign on again. Your ISP, on the other hand, is your ‘internet service provider,’ like Yahoo or Microsoft Hotmail or AOL.
Either way, there's good news -- assuming you’re not breaking any laws, your personal information is safe. Here’s the reason: any company or individual can likely figure out your ISP just by looking at your return address, but they would have to get a court order to unearth more than that. And the only reason they’d do that is if they have cause to believe you’re doing something illegal. So, don’t, and you’ll be fine!
Good luck.
Larry,
If you have a legitimate reason for filing a complaint against a company go through the BBB web site, "Better Business Bureau". Enter the companies URL, phone number or other info., like company name, address etc. See if they are even listed with the BBB to start. If so there is a link to click on for filing a complaint against a company using the BBB.
Another route is to go to the following web site:
See if the site has a category that suits your needs and send the company a suggestion.
But as Paul Hochman suggests. Keep it legal, don't make any personal threats, cursing and such.
Remember that "Violence is the last resort of a limited mind".
Good luck.
Themadczech
They spam me too :P No shoes today, thanks.
There is no way to be 100% secure when sending an email and attempting to mask it's origin. Figuring that your IP is dynamic and sending it anyway... In theory does not uniquely identify YOU, but it does identify your ISP and general location, and it can probably be figured out by your complaint who you are.
The suggestion to use a 3rd party organization such as the BBB is definitely better in this case: further, the company you are complaining against has to do slightly more than just simply ignoring your email (and they will anyway; keep that in mind before you fire off that 3 page missive).
-Kevin
I disagree with Paul, depending on the method in which you send the email they will be able to obtain a lot of different information from your email header, such as your IP address, the hostname of the computer from which you sent it, and a few other details that are a little more than traceable with a little whois recon, http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp. What I would suggest is to set up a dummy email through gmail or hotmail, and then send the email directly from that site, using their online forms. In addition to that, I would also recommend googling an anonymizer, there are several out there that are free and several commercial ones as well. However if you really want to see what information is ascertainable just from the email, send an email to yourself and look around your email viewer for some option like "view original" or view header info, or something like that. Then look at the email and see what is viewable.
Hope that helps
I disagree with Paul, depending on the method in which you send the email they will be able to obtain a lot of different information from your email header, such as your IP address, the hostname of the computer from which you sent it, and a few other details that are a little more than traceable with a little whois recon, http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp. What I would suggest is to set up a dummy email through gmail or hotmail, and then send the email directly from that site, using their online forms. In addition to that, I would also recommend googling an anonymizer, there are several out there that are free and several commercial ones as well. However if you really want to see what information is ascertainable just from the email, send an email to yourself and look around your email viewer for some option like "view original" or view header info, or something like that. Then look at the email and see what is viewable.
Hope that helps
I also disagree with Paul. Even with a dynamic IP, your IP address stays the same 99% of the time. In fact, you have to go through a number of techie steps in order to change it. Opening and closing your browser won’t do it, nor will unplugging your modem. No matter what your IP address is, your geographic location is broadcast to everyone. One way to see this is to check for customized ads aiming at your location. There are programs you can buy which will mask your address, giving you an anonymous IP.
For facebook, It is a mix of people not setting their privacy settings strict enough, and them browsing facebook while at work. When you are at work 9 times out of 10, there is some sort of monitoring system in place that the company uses to monitor what its employees are doing.
Some of these monitoring tools copy all of the images that are viewed or url's visited to a private database. And any place you or someone you are friends with logs on at work, they can see all the pictures you have no matter the "privacy" settings you have in place.
The best way to think about browsing the internet at work is... Any site you go to, on a company network would you want your boss to see the content on that page?
Hope that helps
Using a so-called "blind" e mail address doesn't make any difference at all - the location information is still in the header - BTDT, used the teeshirt to mop up the crime scene (JUST JOKIN"!!!)
Sorry to sound spooky, but that's the facts as I know them and use them.
I'd recommend not EVER writing anything in an e mail that you wouldn't say to the person's face - I'm not the only one in the world who knows how to do this and some people are dangerous.
About Paul Hochman
