If you use public wifi that doesn't require you to enter any personal info to log on, it's very unlikely anyone would go to the trouble to trace you.
It might be "possible" to trace you, but the HUGE amount of time, money, and cooperation of various entities (such as the ISP, the venue offering the wifi, the local police, possibly the FBI, etc. - means that they'd only try to trace you if you had committed some kind of heinous act of terrorism or murder. It's true that every single network adapter sold bears a unique MAC number, and this number is transmitted whenever you access the internet. But theses MAC numbers can be faked, and it's questionable if they are, indeed, unique. So, this kind of evidence would probably not stand alone in court. Plus, imagine how hard it would be to trace a MAC number back to the manufacturer (like Dell), then to the store it was sold at, then to the credit card it was purchased with, then to you. So, basically, browsing on public wifi is mostly anonymous - unless you pay for it with a credit card, or input your personal info. Good luck, Donk On 7/31/2010 10:45 AM, clean_boost wrote: > If someone uses public access wifi such as in a coffee shop, can the isp be > traced to the computer user? The answer seems no, it can only be traced to > the place used, not the user, but I would like to know how this works. > > > > ------------------------------------ > > If you have any questions or problems with any aspect of this site, please > feel free to contact me directly [email protected] Please do not post > personal issues directly to the group. > > To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to > [email protected] > > Thank you for using A-1 Computer TechYahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.426 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3037 - Release Date: 07/29/10 > 18:34:00 > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ If you have any questions or problems with any aspect of this site, please feel free to contact me directly [email protected] Please do not post personal issues directly to the group. To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to [email protected] Thank you for using A-1 Computer TechYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-1-Computer_Tech/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-1-Computer_Tech/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
