IP Address help please

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  ShannonIngram on 17/09/2012 - 08:44

  +2

  Something like an anonymous remailer might be a better bet for you. I haven't tested it but there's one here: http://gilc.org/speech/anonymous/remailer.html

  If you are really concerned you could use TOR to access this website which would provide another layer of anonymity. https://www.torproject.org/

  • 

    c64 on 17/09/2012 - 15:39

    i didn't know the anonymous remailer site existed!

    also you wouldn't want to send anything containing sensitive information using that.

    what's to stop spammers?

    edit: very slow, unreliable. probably deliberately to stop spamming

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  _Bruce_ on 17/09/2012 - 08:49

  +1

  Use Tor. Also be careful that you set up a new email account and never connect to that email account outside of the Tor environment. Also don't put anything in that email account that might identify you.

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  voteoften on 17/09/2012 - 09:05

  Thanks guys. I looked at TOR previously, but it looks like it is its own browser. I like Google Chrome, but am downloading TOR now and will only use TOR with a new email address that I will set up within TOR.

  Thanks again.

• 

  _Bruce_ on 17/09/2012 - 09:27

  +2

  To clarify to help you understand how this all works:

  Whenever you connect to the internet via any means (phone, adsl, whatever) you are given an IP address. Some connections will always give you the same one, others it will change. Even if it changes, ISPs store who had what address when, so it can always be looked up.

  If you send email directly from your own computer the email itself will often (software dependant) contain your IP address in the header. Anyone who receives it will know what IP you used to sent if from. If you use web mail some systems still do this anyway, using the address your browser is connecting from. Others don't, in which case those who want your IP will have to get it out of the web mail company (ie: google for gmail). They keep this data, but it usually involves a court order.

  Tor sends your traffic though someone else randomly who uses the Tor network. No logs are kept of where your traffic went. Everything else is the same, but the IP they get will be for a random Tor user and will not be able to be taken back to you. You can use tor with any browser but the one they include is HIGHLY recommended as many browsers are hard to configure not to track, chrome being particularly bad.

  For example if I create two gmail accounts using the same (chrome) browser, but simly connect via tor for one of them, it will still be known that I used the same browser and the one that didn't use Tor must be my real connection.

  • 

    voteoften on 17/09/2012 - 09:54

    Thanks for explaining all of this for me. What I'm contemplating isn't illegal, I just don't want it to be easy for someone to connect. No law would be involved in this issue.

    This TOR seems a bit of an overkill, but it also seems relatively simple, so I might as well do it and learn from it.

    Thanks again Bruce.

    • 

      _Bruce_ on 17/09/2012 - 09:58

      Understanding all of this is very complicated, and TOR is the simplest way to avoid getting it wrong. The simple mailer above would be OK as long as you trust the service you are using. With TOR you don't have to trust anyone as there is no central server.

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  neil on 17/09/2012 - 10:02

  I use an anonymizer service to disguise my browser/IP address. In particular, hidemyass. There are lots of sites like that. Nothing to install and it's free. Just enter the URL and off you go.

  • 

    imaximax1 on 17/09/2012 - 12:03

    +1

    If it was particularly bad whistleblowing , i would not trust a random free proxy though.

    • 

      voteoften on 17/09/2012 - 12:07

      It's not that bad. Just uncomfortable if it was discovered I was the source. Just discomfort, nothing else.

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  KBZ on 17/09/2012 - 11:35

  +1

  Why don't you just go to an internet cafe?? Easier, IP address not connected to you etc.

  • 

    neil on 17/09/2012 - 12:02

    +1

    I guess it depends on what voteoften is whistleblowing on. An Internet cafe can be traced and if someone wanted to follow through, they could ID you from showing your picture, log into that computer and bring up history etc. A bit of social engineering or bribery can also go a long way. Let's hope whoever you are whisteblowing on doesn't use OzBargain ;)

    • 

      retiredfeline on 17/09/2012 - 12:05

      You could go to one of those WiFi Internet Cafes where you buy a voucher from a vending machine. And wear outlandish sunglasses. :)

      • 

        KBZ on 18/09/2012 - 00:23

        Go to MACCAS FREE WIFI! :DDDD

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  voteoften on 17/09/2012 - 12:08

  Thanks everyone.

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  c64 on 17/09/2012 - 15:41

  if you are using 3g then your ip address will be selected out of a large pool each time you connect.

  just set up third party email account with webmail, send using 3g and the email headers will show it coming from a different ip address than home.

  or use tor + 3rd party webmail

  • 

    _Bruce_ on 17/09/2012 - 15:54

    Poor advice. The IP will change all the time sure, but it is still logged which account was using which address at which time. This is no better than just using your home internet.

    • 

      c64 on 17/09/2012 - 15:56

      all the op wanted was an ip address not matching his normal one:

      "I want to be able to send emails from an IP address that does not match my normal one (from my laptop using my home wireless connection). "

      account info for the ip address would only be obtainable under court order.

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  ESEMCE on 17/09/2012 - 17:18

  +1

  First up, does an email header even contain IP information of the sender? I would expect it would contain only the IP info of the mail server.

  Moving on…
  Unless it's illegal, how is anyone going to be able to track the IP address to you anyway?
  Unless you're whistleblowing on your ISP, noone else is going to be able to determine who owned the IP at any one time without subpoenaing the ISP, or bribing someone in the ISP who has access to the logs.
  It's highly unlikely that your IP is static (you have to pay extra for a static IP), so your past emails would be recorded as sent from a range of IP addresses that your ISP owns.

  Logging into webmail would further separate you, as the email log would only trace back to the IP of the webmail provider..
  So the webmail provider would have to cough up the IP address of the account holder who sent the email and then the ISP would have to cough up the actual name of the person..

  • 

    retiredfeline on 17/09/2012 - 17:26

    Logging into webmail would further separate you, as the email log would only trace back to the IP of the webmail provider..

    Not completely true, as webmail clients can and often do add the address of the browser to email headers.

    But it's true that obtaining the identity of the sender involves a chain of steps and barriers at each step. So it depends how determined and how resourceful the person wanting to discover the identity is.

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  1bug on 17/09/2012 - 22:49

  Does that mean that where ever I go in the world, my laptop will always show the same IP address?

  No, your laptop will show an IP address of the network you're connected through.

  At home, all the devices connected via your modem/router will share the same IP address when connecting to the internet (assuming current IPv4 technology). This home IP address is assigned by the ISP and may be static (always the same) or dynamic (changes periodically), and is traceable to your account.

  At work, your laptop will share an IP address (or one of many IP addresses) assigned to your work's network(s). Same goes for Hot spots or internet cafes. Depending on the size of a business there may be a range of addresses assigned to a business (for example, different ranges for Head Office and branches, etc) but all addresses are traceable to that business.

  • 

    voteoften on 17/09/2012 - 23:41

    Thanks. The bit I read was confusing. It sounded like each device would have the same IP address always.

    This stuff is sort of like I thought it was, but it is very helpful to get it spelled out.

    TOR is very slow and windows often have to be reloaded. This is my very limited experience anyway.

    If I have the TOR browser open and the Chrome browser open, can I go back and forth without contaminating the TOR? (I prefer Chrome due to the speed.)

    • 

      _Bruce_ on 18/09/2012 - 07:31

      Having them both open is the idea, no problem.

      Not sure what you mean by 'windows often have to be reloaded', but that sounds quite wrong.

      • 

        voteoften on 18/09/2012 - 09:31

        I found, initially, that pages did not want to download properly. I'd get a page offering advice on what the issue might be and also a reload button. I would just hit f5. I am not having that problem at the moment though, so perhaps it has something to do with the way they route traffic? Perhaps at peak times this can be expected.

        Thanks Bruce.