ISP and internet browsing history?

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sneaks

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Wannabe Geek

Topic # 60097 19-Apr-2010 13:33

i have a flatmate who dropped hints about what i had been looking at on my laptop on the flat broadband account. i always browse privately, and have been struggling to figure out how he could know?

before you get all "dirty prono" on me, yes i watch porn but that isnt what im worried about...

the plot thickens as he has a friend who works for our ISP, i was wondering if it was possible for him to be telling him what is going on? is this likely? or am i being paranoid? its kind of stressing me out any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

sneaks

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Reply # 320227 19-Apr-2010 13:49

What ISP? Is he the account holder? TelstraClear for example gives a list of all domains visited in their meter page if you drill down on a day stats...

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sneaks

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Wannabe Geek

Reply # 320229 19-Apr-2010 13:54

telecom hes not the account holder but he has all the passwords etc, he controls it just not in his name... he easily would have looked into our access page... does telecom provide that information?

rscole86

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Reply # 320231 19-Apr-2010 14:03

How you do connect to the internet? Is there a proxy server that you connect through, or do you connect directly into the modem?

sneaks

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Wannabe Geek

Reply # 320233 19-Apr-2010 14:05

directly to the modem...

pageweon

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Reply # 320244 19-Apr-2010 14:37

as far as im aware telecom cant give out any information as regards to your browsing habits, well atleast not at the csr level

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Ragnor

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Reply # 320250 19-Apr-2010 14:51

Get your flatmate drunk and ask him how he knew!

hamish225

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Reply # 320389 19-Apr-2010 18:46

Ragnor: Get your flatmate drunk and ask him how he knew!

freitasm

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Reply # 320392 19-Apr-2010 18:56

There's a problem here... If he really got this information out of someone that works at Telecom then that employee just commited a big breach of the Privacy Act.

This employee shouldn't disclose this kind of information to anyone, except the the account holder. It's worse if he did disclose this information because the person asking is his "mate".

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PenultimateHop

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Reply # 320394 19-Apr-2010 19:05

1. Do you use WiFi?
2. If not WiFi, do you know if you are connecting to a switched Ethernet network, or a hub?

freitasm

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Reply # 320396 19-Apr-2010 19:07

Going back to the possibility that it's not a friend telling your flatmate... Your flatmate could possibly just sniff the packets on the LAN and get all information from there.

That's what PenultimateHop is trying to find out.

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PenultimateHop

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Reply # 320400 19-Apr-2010 19:13

freitasm: Going back to the possibility that it's not a friend telling your flatmate... Your flatmate could possibly just sniff the packets on the LAN and get all information from there.

That's what PenultimateHop is trying to find out.

Indeed. It is a far, far more likely scenario than the ISP (or friend at ISP) telling your flatmate, especially at a large telco like TNZ/Xtra who will have very strict controls over their Lawful Intercept systems and fairly strict adherence to the Privacy Act.

Most ISPs don't record this sort of information by default because it's a pain to do so (storage-wise) and because of the legality issues involved.

Of course, the other possibility is your flatmate snoops around on your PC when you're not at home.

DataCraft

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Reply # 320410 19-Apr-2010 19:22

Has your flatmate installed key logger on your computer? check msconfig / startup

insane

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Reply # 320484 19-Apr-2010 22:54

I remember diagnosing an internal DNS issue at work a while back, the one engineer was reading out a list in real time of all the domains being viewed. Lots of trademe, facebook and youtube viewing was going on, and then some dating sites came up, as which point we stopped.

Its just not worth the privacy issues. Sometimes its hard not to when you're actually bug fixing, but apart from that you have to draw the line as its very unprofessional!

Chances are your PC has some software installed which is keeping a log of the sites you're visiting, or you're not doing a very good job at hiding your browsing. Looking through someone's cookies can be a eye-opening experience.

sneaks

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Wannabe Geek

Reply # 320536 20-Apr-2010 09:08

how can i clear the information completely? i am now thinking that it was most likely from me leaveing my computer open... thanks for all the advice

sneaks

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 320539 20-Apr-2010 09:13

i run a mac by the way, probably blastphemy around these parts haha

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