"We are currently recording IP address of all Yahoo Chat Room users"?????

[patricia92243]

I just went to a political chat room on Yahoo and the above was posted in the chat room. I realize Yahoo uses tracking cookies, but this is different.

I don't know what to think about it.

[Warpy]

1. You can use a proxy if you're really concerned

There are quite a few out there and the cost is minimal.

[lonestarnot]

2. Don't know what to make of that either. Must be the new spy networking

in the search for societies disagreeables, meaning some of us! Yikes. Beware of your posts. I don't go there any more.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Who do they mean by "WE"?

[thinkingwoman]

4. Big Brother has been watching you

for a very long time.

What's different now? Some of their helpers are admitting it. That's all.

The most basic tracking (cookie) software automatically records the IP addresses of all users of any particular site employing that software. I used to review the logs for a small biz website that I administered and I could tell you the IP of every visitor, how often they visited, which page they entered the site through and exited from and, get this, how many minutes they spent on each page.

How much did the biz pay for this state of the art monitoring? Five dollars per month. Seriously.

We are watched all the time.

[bemildred]

5. Forget it. Any site with a firewall can do this.

As the other fellow says, you can use an anonymous proxy to avoid this, but unless you are into egregiously illegal activities, there is no reason to bother.

[DemNoir]

6. Be careful

Yahoo Chat uses Java. Java has a security hole that reveals your true IP even when using a proxy.

http://www.stayinvisible.com/index.pl/test_your_ip_nocache

[bemildred]

9. I wouldn't use Yahoo chat if they paid me,

and I deliberately keep Java broken on my surfing box.

Think of it this way, I can set up a chair by the road and
"record the license number of every car that goes by", but
what does it get me? How does it threaten the drivers of the
cars?

[Warpy]

12. I tried Yahoo chat once

about 4 years ago. Once was enough. It suffers from the same problem that all other easy to access Java or ISP chat does, no moron filter.

IRC is a different world. Yes, there are still intransigent right wingers, lots of them, but most of them can SPELL. The simple command lines used by IRC clients like mIRC and PIRCH keep the real loons in the Java chats.

[Renew Deal]

7. They are probably trying to warn child molesters.

That's a problem on Yahoo chat.

[Todd B]

8. And?

It's not like your IP points directly to your house - many times an IP address that is assigned to you, could be traced back to New York.

It's not really a big secret that you can get a users IP address that posts on an online forum. It's mostly to prevent abuse so they can be easily banned if they cause a big distruption or to cut down on some of the child molesters.

[Lefty48197]

10. The Feds asked/forced Yahoo to do this because pedophiles

were using Yahoo chat rooms to find their victims (at least that's what they said). Yahoo suspended use of their "user created" chat rooms, and then started posting the notice about recording ISP addresses. While I do object to the invasion of privacy, I also know that the internet is a cesspool where the most vile of humankind lurk. I hope they are able to catch some pedophiles because of this. It seems like once a week the Sheriff's in Michigan are catching somebody for trying to arrange a "date" with a 13 year old girl, or something. Leads me to believe that there are many others that need to be caught.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

11. So what. They'll have hundreds of thousands of "persons of

interest" that they won't be able to do a gd thing about. Screw 'em I say.

[neebob]

13. As the administrator of a discussion forum

on a non-political advice site, I have the capability to look up members' IP addresses when they join and when they post.

The site is one where people tell personal stories that I frequently find myself doubting, knowing from years of experience that this type of site tends to attract attention-seeking trolls and the kind of advice I give tends to piss people off. I've been fixated on more than a few times.

I sometimes use the IP capability when I suspect a troll, along with the email address at registration. Usually the first thing I do is google the person's email address and handle to see what comes up. What I find helps me decide whether to ban them or let them stay. Sometimes I compare their IP addresses to those of other members who recently joined or came to mind for some other reason. All that does is help me decide how likely it is that two members are the same person. Looking up the owner of the IP address can tell me who the person's ISP is and approximately where they're located, but not always.

More often than not, I just respond as if I believe the story, assuming value for other readers. I don't like to ban people or call attention to trolls because it increases my chances of being fixated on, while guaranteeing that I'll have to waste more time talking about it.

I've always assumed that IP addresses are being logged here, too, and everywhere else. It's only one way to figure out who someone is - and not even the most informative. It's really, really easy to follow the tracks that most people leave on the internet. You don't need an IP address.

I wouldn't worry about it. If the government wanted to hunt you down, they already have enough information to do it without having to ask Yahoo! for your IP address. They're probably just trying to appear to be doing everything they can to discourage internet sexual predators.

[Cleita]

14. I saw that too and I thought that they were pretty specific

in stating that they had to provide the IP addresses to any government agency that requests it without informing you. I don't remember the exact words but that seems to be the intent.

Looks like Big Brother is getting bigger.