Why are subscriber's IP addresses posted on threads?

musiclistener · 2nd August 2008, 07:43 PM

What the hell is this? I noticed everyone's IP addresses are showing in the lower right box of the postings. What reason could this website possibly have for displaying even a partial IP address?

theAnonymous1 · 2nd August 2008, 07:59 PM

babya · 7th August 2008, 10:12 AM

So, if someone abuses the forums, they can reported to their ISP.

Notorious · 7th August 2008, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by babya
So, if someone abuses the forums, they can reported to their ISP.

Not true.. Admin and mods can see your IP address always and it is their job to monitor what's going on in forum. That way they can either warn or ban trublemaker. Displaying either full or partial IP address is in a way violation of privacy policy. They might as well be giving sinffing bots and unauthorized parties access to a person's email address and other details. The phishers on other hand, may use the information to create fake accounts in a victim's name...
Seems to me we have a serious security hole here..

error401 · 7th August 2008, 01:01 PM

I have to agree. The first three octets are enough to place most users in a fairly small geographical area (ie. a metro area). For information gathering intended for e.g. identity theft, this combined with information obtained elsewhere could be enough to identify an individual. Nevermind the privacy implications...

I'm not sure how it serves a purpose to anonymous users, and unless a compelling argument can be presented, I think this 'feature' should be disabled.

Try here: http://www.maxmind.com/app/lookup_city just add a .1 as the final octet.

AndrewT · 7th August 2008, 01:09 PM

I just used Error's link and found out too much information about my ISP account and location.

auplater · 7th August 2008, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Notorious

Not true.. Admin and mods can see your IP address always and it is their job to monitor what's going on in forum. That way they can either warn or ban trublemaker. Displaying either full or partial IP address is in a way violation of privacy policy. They might as well be giving sinffing bots and unauthorized parties access to a person's email address and other details. The phishers on other hand, may use the information to create fake accounts in a victim's name...
Seems to me we have a serious security hole here..

It's already happening. Whenever I've not posted for a few weeks, the level of spam etc . I receive drops dramatically. Whenever I've posted after an absence and I receive the auto post email, my spam rate goes up drastically. Forbes financial site is even worse than here at DIY audio.

I'll probably get a bunch from this posting...

John L.

peranders · 7th August 2008, 01:54 PM

My spam level is very low since I switched ISP even for the email account that use here.

theAnonymous1 · 7th August 2008, 02:38 PM

No spam problems here. Not the paranoid type either.

Here, have my whole IP......

69.207.107.96

theAnonymous1 · 7th August 2008, 02:41 PM

Wait, why did it change?

2nd August 2008, 07:43 PM	#1
musiclistener diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2008	Why are subscriber's IP addresses posted on threads? What the hell is this? I noticed everyone's IP addresses are showing in the lower right box of the postings. What reason could this website possibly have for displaying even a partial IP address?

2nd August 2008, 07:59 PM	#2
theAnonymous1 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Anonymityville	__________________ "If you don't like funerals don't kick sand in Ninja's face." - Ninja

7th August 2008, 01:01 PM	#5
error401 diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2007	I have to agree. The first three octets are enough to place most users in a fairly small geographical area (ie. a metro area). For information gathering intended for e.g. identity theft, this combined with information obtained elsewhere could be enough to identify an individual. Nevermind the privacy implications... I'm not sure how it serves a purpose to anonymous users, and unless a compelling argument can be presented, I think this 'feature' should be disabled. Try here: http://www.maxmind.com/app/lookup_city just add a .1 as the final octet. __________________ http://audio.gotroot.ca/

7th August 2008, 01:54 PM	#8
peranders Electrons are yellow and more is better! diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Göteborg, Sweden Blog Entries: 4	My spam level is very low since I switched ISP even for the email account that use here. __________________ /Per-Anders (my first name) or P-A as my friends call me Tube Buffered Gainclone in work \|Thread

7th August 2008, 02:38 PM	#9
theAnonymous1 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Anonymityville	No spam problems here. Not the paranoid type either. Here, have my whole IP...... 69.207.107.96 __________________ "If you don't like funerals don't kick sand in Ninja's face." - Ninja


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7th August 2008, 10:12 AM	#3
babya diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2008	So, if someone abuses the forums, they can reported to their ISP.

7th August 2008, 01:09 PM	#6
AndrewT diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Scottish Borders	I just used Error's link and found out too much information about my ISP account and location.

7th August 2008, 02:41 PM	#10
theAnonymous1 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Anonymityville	Wait, why did it change? __________________ "If you don't like funerals don't kick sand in Ninja's face." - Ninja

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