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I was in the chat room tonight and Tukky said that a certain vewer came from sweden by looking at his IP address, so I asked if she knew where I came from?

she read out my IP address number and then asked me if I was in the USA?..i said no, she said there was no mistake and it showed me to be in the USA!!

very odd that. i often wondered why I get so much junk mail from USA based companies.

i just rang my service provider and a nice indian lady told me that my IP address was automatically allocated, I am wondering if this poses any problems?

Edited by pattaya_mad
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I was in the chat room tonight and Tukky said that a certain vewer came from sweden by looking at his IP address, so I asked if she knew where I came from?

she read out my IP address number and then asked me if I was in the USA?..i said no, she said there was no mistake and it showed me to be in the USA!!

very odd that. i often wondered why I get so much junk mail from USA based companies.

i just rang my service provider and a nice indian lady told me that my IP address was automatically allocated, I am wondering if this poses any problems?

 

Rest assured, your IP is most definitely in the UK.

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It IS possible to anonymize your IP address by going through a proxy server someplace. If you use one of these, then the only IP address they see at the other end of the conversation is the proxy's. There are free and pay anonymizer services. Such services will have to give up your real IP if hit with a subpoena or court order (at which point your service provider will also give YOU up if hit with subpoena/court order), but failing all that, (i.e., assuming you're not trying to do something illegal) the other end of the connection will not be able to tell where you're from - only where the proxy is (and that can even be dynamic, depending on the service).

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It IS possible to anonymize your IP address by going through a proxy server someplace. If you use one of these, then the only IP address they see at the other end of the conversation is the proxy's. There are free and pay anonymizer services. Such services will have to give up your real IP if hit with a subpoena or court order (at which point your service provider will also give YOU up if hit with subpoena/court order), but failing all that, (i.e., assuming you're not trying to do something illegal) the other end of the connection will not be able to tell where you're from - only where the proxy is (and that can even be dynamic, depending on the service).

I have often wondered.... do they record your actual IP at the proxy server? Are they required to by local or international law?

Surely if they had YOUR anonymity at heart it would be prudent of them not to keep such records, and perhaps inform you when the subpoena/court order lands on the desk, and you would stop using that particular proxy. There is also the possibility of a proxy server based in some country that might laugh at a subpoena/court order from say the USA?

Edited by jacko
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My IP address shows me in Liverpool, even though I'm sitting somewhere in Northern Ireland. British Telecom must route all broadband customers through some sort of centre in Liverpool.

BT eh, could be worse, you could actually be in Liverpool! :D
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I have often wondered.... do they record your actual IP at the proxy server?

 

Yes. Always. Without fail. They have do. The IP is your address on the Internet, Without it, they can't contact you. How long they keep it is very, very variable. Because...

 

Are they required to by local or international law?

 

Not international, no. International law can't do that (yet) unless you count the Eeee-yew! But the answer is yes, no, maybe and sometimes. In Thailand they must, and they must keep it for a long time. In some countries, some states, some jurisdictions. And of course it is evolving.

 

The correct thing to do is to assume that they do.

 

Surely if they had YOUR anonymity at heart

 

I'm surprised you think a commercial company might, and of course a government-run ISP or a hobby proxy never would. But seriously, a commercial firm has its own survival at stake not yours. If you do something dodgy, they'll give you up in a heartbeat. And why not?

 

it would be prudent of them not to keep such records,

 

Actually, most commercial firms *do* oppose keeping records, or at least for very long. But not in your interest, rather in keeping their costs. down.

 

and perhaps inform you when the subpoena/court order lands on the desk,

 

An ISP almost always will inform you unless it's a security matter and they're told not to. A proxy ... most proxies are xhit, but a top-notch, pay-for proxy will think of its customers.

 

and you would stop using that particular proxy. There is also the possibility of a proxy server based in some country that might laugh at a subpoena/court order from say the USA?

 

Depends on the reason, the country, the pressure brought, the courts, who's running the proxy and lots of other stuff. There *have been* such battles. Governments are always going to win in the end, jacko, as 14 member of Anonymous now realise. And the thing is if you're using your proxy to break the law somehow, there's not much sympathy for you. It's not like there's a big groundswell of support for the guy running his paedo ring or the crackers breaking into banks.

 

The most an ISP will ever do is challenge in the courts (and sometimes they have won, too, at least in the US - NEVER, not once, ever, in Thailand.) Proxies often can try to fade away. I can't remember a proxy that fought but there probably have been a few cases. I don't know what their defence could be. Imagine:

 

Gummint agent: We would like the information because we think "jacko" might be involved in blabbity-blabbity terrorist lese majeste bank-robbery group

Proxy owner: Eff you G-man. I don't care what you do to me, but I won't ever reveal anything about jacko.

 

I mean... c'mon.

 

.

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I was in the chat room tonight and Tukky said that a certain vewer came from sweden by looking at his IP address, so I asked if she knew where I came from?

she read out my IP address number and then asked me if I was in the USA?..i said no, she said there was no mistake and it showed me to be in the USA!!

very odd that. i often wondered why I get so much junk mail from USA based companies.

i just rang my service provider and a nice indian lady told me that my IP address was automatically allocated, I am wondering if this poses any problems?

 

Weird, your IP is telling me your in Sri Lanka ?

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Some proxy/anonymizer services have lots of servers set up around the world in many different countries, the idea being that on any particular day and for any particular session, which one you're bouncing off of is somewhat random. Sri Lanka. Amsterdam. Mumbai. Toronto. Russia. Anywhere. But again, servers keep logs of all their connections, those logs include datetime stamps & the incoming IP address, and the commercial services and ISPs are in many countries required to maintain those logs for some extended period of time in case law enforcement wants to grab them in support of something they think worthy of investigation (and in recent years that's included copyright infringement issues as well as the more serious crimes). As Joe points out, they don't do it because they choose to; they do it because they have to.

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