IP and Hostname logging (was Re: [thelist] CoffeeCup Free HTML)

Greg Strange gstrange at e-tsi.com
Wed Jul 12 15:26:44 CDT 2000


on 7/12/00 12:24 PM, Villano, Paul at VillanoP at usachcs-emh1.army.mil wrote:

> Same here.  The PCWorld article says it's free, but their own link says
> SHAREware and going directly to the site says it's at least $40 and up.
> Another scary thing...when I clicked on the "buy online" link (to see if it
> said free or what) there's a notice "Your IP Address & Host Name are logged
> to track fraud."  Ummmm...no thanks.  Nothing to hide, but I don't like the
> implications of them taking that liberty with my info.

I hate to burst your bubble here but just as someone said in another email
on this list, everything is secured but nothing is secure.  Before I tell
you this, I want to say that I do nothing with the information except to
maintain my server.

Whenever you log onto a site using apache for the web server (I don't know
about others, I've never used them) your IP is logged so that a reverse
hostname lookup can be done.  This is not default but it is something that
is easily implemented.  This is not considered an invasion or your privacy
because the point is not gain information about you but rather where you are
from.  It gives us an idea of market penetration and whether we need to
include a German translation because a bunch of Germans are hitting the site
every day.  Not to mention you kind of would like to know where people are
coming from (further supposedly difficult info to get.)

Also, any transfer from a DNS server can be logged and kept.

Of course, I am not saying you shouldn't attempt to cut down on the number
of overt and obvious attempts to get info, but believe me, whenever you
surf, you can be sure that you have no reasonable expectation of privacy.

Just my two cents.

Greg Strange





More information about the thelist mailing list