Am I mis-understanding this - BT/ Yahoo?

[novocaine]

Ive asked a friend on that what Chris. I beleive in the case of a home computer it means access to the modem (router) log. On phone its different as you are installong a piece of software that can access the phone data.

Ill try and get back to you.

 

[RogerS]

Seriously though...it's a trade off, isn't it ?

Of course,as long as you understand that a trade is taking place, every time you connect to the internet. Your data for their services. Check out the number of aps that send data to Amazon and Google - virtually all of them, by default!

I still use the internet, but I feel slightly violated every time. So many people have no idea, or blithely go through life with the "I have nothing to hide,so why should I care?" approach. My wife, for one.

That's why I use TOR and can't understand why more people don't. Then people can stop fretting.

 

[chaoticbob]

Seriously though...it's a trade off, isn't it ?

Of course,as long as you understand that a trade is taking place, every time you connect to the internet. Your data for their services. Check out the number of aps that send data to Amazon and Google - virtually all of them, by default!

I still use the internet, but I feel slightly violated every time. So many people have no idea, or blithely go through life with the "I have nothing to hide,so why should I care?" approach. My wife, for one.

That's why I use TOR and can't understand why more people don't. Then people can stop fretting.

Thanks Roger - hadn't heard of TOR before, but now installed. I might have to actually remember passwords rather than lazily allowing Firefox to fill them in for me, but that's no bad thing.
Robin.

 

[worn thumbs]

There was a time when TOR was completely secure.I suspect that any users of it these days will have an organisation or two,normally referred to just by their initials,looking over their shoulder.Probably searching for transactions in cryptocurrency or checking what access to things they shouldn't be indulging in.

The other aspect of life in cyberspace that amazes me is the stream of TV adverts promising that a free app can help improve one's credit score.Do the users not realise just how much information they are giving away?

 

[novocaine]

TOR still claims to be 100% anonymous, and it has it's uses (it's not all buying Russian Hookers and pounds of crack). there was a hack a year or so ago that allowed IP to be traced but it needs to know a few things to do it (the nodes used the end server and the outbound server if I remember correctly), I'm informed (but still not sure I trust him) that this data can be gathered by cookies and I'm sure someone is building a bot to do just that but again, you are plankton, don't give yourself so much credit, the real big fish aren't interested in you, you might get swept up in the net of a trawler but that's about it. physical attack is still far easier than online, especially with RFID and the likes and it's more likely you'll get your details swiped stood on the bus or train than from online purchasing.

It's a new world people, and if you are on here, you most likely aren't part of it, I know I'm not, I'm just an observer now.

 

[Robbo3]

The reason you are seeing banners & adverts is because you are using a browser to access your emails.
Using a programme (client) on your PC (& probably phone or tablet) will allow read, create & send emails without all the junk.
There are a number of free email clients.
After Microsoft's Outlook.com, Thunderbird is probably the best well known. There is even a portable version that you can run from a USB pen drive.
EMclient (2 free addresses) & FossaMail are relatively easy to set up.
Others like Claws Mail or Pegasus can be more complicated - especially if you are into newsgroups.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

TOR. Initially created by the US Navy.

Whilst using it may make life tricky for the alphabet agencies, I don't believe for a moment that it is fully secure. By all means use it to keep Google advertising at bay, but don't trust your life and deepest secrets to it. "Strange game. The only way to win is not to play"

 

[GrahamF]

Using a programme (client) on your PC (& probably phone or tablet) will allow read, create & send emails without all the junk.
There are a number of free email clients.

We've been using Windows Live Mail for many years which has worked fine until now using Gmail which sees it as an unsafe application and keeps blocking one address in particular so I have to keep overriding security settings.

Another problem which has cropped up recently is I suspect the router assigning the same IP address to both our computers. Sometimes when I search for a particular item, then my wife starts getting ads for the same thing on her computer. Internet has become a privacy nightmare and will only get worse.

As already said above, cookies are downloaded and some are very dubious so, it's a good idea to delete them from time to time. Always use a separate email address for banking and PayPal, not the one you use for any sites which require log-in such as this forum.

 

[RogerS]

....
Another problem which has cropped up recently is I suspect the router assigning the same IP address to both our computers.

That's not possible unless your router was broken (badly). More likely it's the IP address that you have been given by your ISP....the one that faces the internet.

As already said above, cookies are downloaded and some are very dubious so,

Not too sure what you define as 'dubious'. I've never bothered to clear my cookies out. The only time I do a selective cookie-clear is when I want another free trial on a website :wink:

Always use a separate email address for banking and PayPal, not the one you use for any sites which require log-in such as this forum.

Nope ..don't bother with that either since all the bank accounts I have ask for only certain characters from the password.

I DO bother with having a separate bank account for paypal as I think that's much more important. There are a few chancers out there and who will try it on. If I sell something ...it's as I've described it..but a chancer will try to get their money back by claiming it's faulty. I'd rather be in the driving seat in that case. Not have Paypal arbitrarily siding with the buyer (which is their default position) and sucking my money out from my bank account. Even possibly putting me into the read...charges etc.

As soon as I sell something, it's out of Paypal and into my bank account (used solely for Paypal) straightaway. Once it's in that bank account, it gets immediately moved to my main bank account. Paypal can have fun trying to get the money.

 

[GrahamF]

Not too sure what you define as 'dubious'. I've never bothered to clear my cookies out. The only time I do a selective cookie-clear is when I want another free trial on a website

I DO bother with having a separate bank account for paypal as I think that's much more important. There are a few chancers out there and who will try it on.

Airlines for instance download cookies onto the computer and, surprise surprise, the published fares have sometimes increased next time you log-on, although the original cheaper ones can still be found on another computer without the cookie.

It's easy for hackers to harvest email addresses from internet users and try to match them up with log-ins for sites visited. That's why the one I use in public and for forums and emails isn't the one I use for contacting banks, PayPal, investments, etc., If for instance a bank email arrives in my general email I know instantly it's a spoof and block the sender.

 

[RogerS]

Not too sure what you define as 'dubious'. I've never bothered to clear my cookies out. The only time I do a selective cookie-clear is when I want another free trial on a website

I DO bother with having a separate bank account for paypal as I think that's much more important. There are a few chancers out there and who will try it on.

Airlines for instance download cookies onto the computer and, surprise surprise, the published fares have sometimes increased next time you log-on, although the original cheaper ones can still be found on another computer without the cookie.

LOL ! When you said dubious I was thinking about trojans and malware. Yeah...I know all about those airline cookies. BA is one of my selective cookie removal candidates. In fact, IIRC, I posted about this on the forum a while back.

It's easy for hackers to harvest email addresses from internet users and try to match them up with log-ins for sites visited. That's why the one I use in public and for forums and emails isn't the one I use for contacting banks, PayPal, investments, etc., If for instance a bank email arrives in my general email I know instantly it's a spoof and block the sender.

Interesting viewpoint although I've never had any evidence of this happening with my email address. Which, I should add, have had for many years and so it has to be 'out there'. If I got an email purporting to be from the bank, I think I'd probably rely on the wetware.

As I side issue, I never get any spam on my email address. None. My business address - yes, a few. My Hotmail address way too many but at least Outlook sticks them in Junk so I just do a block delete.

 

[Robbo3]

We've been using Windows Live Mail for many years which has worked fine until now using Gmail which sees it as an unsafe application and keeps blocking one address in particular so I have to keep overriding security settings.

Another problem which has cropped up recently is I suspect the router assigning the same IP address to both our computers. Sometimes when I search for a particular item, then my wife starts getting ads for the same thing on her computer. Internet has become a privacy nightmare and will only get worse.

Ah yes, Gmail allow less secure apps. Presume you've looked it up & know how to change the settings.

I'm no networking expert but you can't have two of the same IP address on a network. The LAN IPs are dished out by the router but the WAN IP is issued by your ISP which can be either static or different every time the router is booted (Dynamic).

If you don't know how to log on to the router, on each machine open a Command Prompt & type ipconfig & hit enter (or ipconfig /all) to show the IP of the router (gateway) & the IP of the machine. Hit the X to close or type exit
If a machine leaves the network it's IP address becomes vacant (unless it's been reserved in the settings) & can be issued to the next machine to join. So it's possible that you have seen the same IP address on different machines but not at the same time.

 

[GrahamF]

If a machine leaves the network it's IP address becomes vacant (unless it's been reserved in the settings) & can be issued to the next machine to join. So it's possible that you have seen the same IP address on different machines but not at the same time.

On more than one occasion, I've had a warning that another machine on the network has the same IP address and to contact service provider - which I haven't bothered doing as it works OK.