My friends have been debating about this. Can people keep their identity hidden or is there a way for someone to find out who you really are. ie: if you get an account under a pseudo name and address and use public computers as well as home.. can someone get real proof that it is you writing those mails etc??
2007-01-21 13:00:44 · 7 answers · asked by kweenses 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Internet
short answer as long as at some point you use your home computer and home phone line to connect to the internet, then you can be traced.
however the person doing the trace would need the help of the phone companies and law enforcment agencies to trace where you are. however unless you are talking about criminal activity online then the chances of you gettting traced are slim.
however if you pay in cash at an internet cafe for access to the net, and the details you provide to sign in are false then in all likely hood electronically you can not be traced.
that said if you use a public computer and do not wipe down the keyboard and everything you touch you could pottentially be traced through forensic science methods such as fingerprints DNA etc.
although proving it was you online at a particular computer at a given date and time could either be proved in the case of a cafe having CCTV or not if they don't have CCTV.
as for a home computer if you share a house with someone and you are both in that home at the same time one of you uses the computer while the other watches the tv for example it would be hard to prove who was online.
i hope that clears that up.
just remember your computer when online has a unique IP address assigned for the duration of your time on line. and all ISPs are required to log the user details of the IP address. Even the proxy avoidance or so called avoidance or IP changer systems out in the wild. they are required to keep server logs.
however some break the law and do not keep the logs the required time frame, and some just do not log anything.
but in general anything you do online can be monitored and traced. it may be traced instantly or it could take a while but ultimately if you break the law and the police or other law enforcement agancies are on to you or know about your crimes then expect a knock on the door at any moment.
as they could have all the evidence they need to come and get you.
besides which a lot of internet traffic is directed through government inteligence agencies for screening.
so just be careful of what you say and do online.
oh and if you know any server administrators, tell them to remove the catch all mail address on the server, as well as block external server to external server mail. this is one of the easiest ways to stop spam mail infecting your servers.
hey i'm speaking with experiance here. i run a mail server for my family, and have not as yet had a problem with spam on my system with that configuration.
the mail may take a few seconds longer to deliver configured in this manner but better that than become a spaming machine.
sorry rant over.
good luck.
i just read what inspid put down about driving around.
nice idea. but your laptop (every network Device) has a uniquie MAC number on the interface card it uses to identify itself on the network. So while in theory in his scenario you can not be traced the truth is if you are caught with that lap top the MAC number will give you away.
so you would need to get a new MAC number eachtime which means either creating software to hack the network card and change the MAC number every single connection. a pain the the **** to do unless you are an expert programmer.
but again you would need to format your hard drive several times after you were online and reset your system so nothing had happened a clean brand new computer. again a pain in the **** to do. unless you keep two hard drives around and are prepared to scrap one in a vat of acid if the police come knocking at your door.
2007-01-21 13:29:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
1
2017-01-21 09:01:54 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not everything is traceable......
If you use a public computer in a different town, and the previous user didn't log out of Yahoo mail, you could then use their account to do stuff. Or use a public computer far away and set up a totally fake account with false details. But why would you want to? Just by you asking this question you draw attention to yourself and it is common knowledge that security services watch Yahoo Answers to spot potential terrorist/criminal activity.
2007-01-21 13:13:20 · answer #3 · answered by puggtiracer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's easily traceable, to what extent depends on the person tracing you.
As for how they could get proof, I won't go into the details of the process, but they could obtain your IP number, which is sort of like DNA for computers, also, Google and such is sometimes a useful tool.
2007-01-21 18:40:08 · answer #4 · answered by Scott Bull 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
everybody can be traced and watched at any time if u use a a public computer then there will be cctv all time stamped so using someone else's account wont matter cos they will do time checks and do a match if its that serious so the simple answer is NO UR NOT SAFE FROM prying eyes and ears.
2007-01-21 13:27:27 · answer #5 · answered by glen w 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you use your home computer, yes pretty much everything you do can be traced to you.
If you only use public PCs like at a library and sign up with a fake name, no I don't see how it could be traced to you.
2007-01-21 13:10:36 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Im no whizz kid but i do know that everything you do online is traceable.
So yes 100% someone if they tried hard enough could get your identity.
2007-01-21 13:06:56 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, if they had the government's help.....:P
2007-01-21 13:08:32 · answer #8 · answered by k_man_su 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋