Privacy/Anonymity Questions

I have a pay as you go broadband dongle (usb stick) - You top it up using cash and has no connection to you whatsoever, eg no names, money trail etc.

So, when browsing online there is no connection to me. The main worry I have though is my computer itself revealing personal info.

My main objectives are emailing and browsing anon. Not doing anything illegal but want to run things anon.

I have the broadband in place but just need to know if the isp can somehow know my details from my computer ? What does the ISP know about my computer when I plug in the dongle and connect.

Obviously the ip I use to browse and send with each time isn't tied to me but can that ip be traced back by the computer I use for example.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Please read the thread before answering.

I can use the mobile pay as you go broadband ips because they don't have any details for me.

But could they look at the ips used then find out about my computer, then me? (mac address serials etc.)

If i get what you mean,
The only thing your internet provider can see is the sites your visiting (i might be wrong)
And for the data your entering well thats just on your pc or if you registered on the website you entered your information on.

If you really wanna be parnoid i read somewhere that if you get a anonymous proxy that allows SSL then your ISP will only see 1 website (the proxy)
Because all the sites you visit are being encrypted.

EDIT: to be honest as long as your not doing anything highly illegal they wont bother looking in to you. e.g. terrorist activity.

It is just me being paranoid I guess.

But I am just wondering because an isp log would usually list the user eg account holder, but this is like a top up as you go. Would the log perhaps list my computers mac address or any other information similar?

I cant guarantee they log your mac address.
heres a few things to think about,
did you pay for your laptop/computer with your card? (only if they can track ur mac)
All IPs give a ruff location of where you live so they can track you through that anyway.

Lastly they wouldnt bother going through all this unless you was doing something highley illegal.
If your not they done care lol they will have 100's of millions of connections to look at every day other wise

Iirc they can get ur mac address. From what ur describing that would be my primary concern.
Posted via Mobile Device

Yeah the computer was paid for in cash but they did take a name.

Is the mac address the only thing that could identify the computer or are there other things that could be tied to each IP from the ISP?

Yes the isp can see outgoing emails, you need a proxy.

doesn't really matter they can see mails though because the broadband is prepaid and isn't an account of any description all cash.

It isn't so much just the ip you need to think about. Depending on what programs your using there will be other info that can be passed along. I'll use an xp machine as an example and then you just need to think about the equivalent things happening on your mac.

When you set up xp, you enter owner information and you set up a username. Many programs will pull that information and include it in parameters they use. Some examples would be Mirc as an IRC client will include your xp account name as part of the local host info; most ms programs pull the owner information to fill in registraton info; Email clients include a name in the returnto field, etc.

So if you really want to keep yourself anonymous, then you should make sure that you don't use your real name when setting up your pc, or installing any programs. If you do that and use that anonymous ip dongle, then unless they actually track you down in real time with some kind of NSA type tracking and find you actually sitting there typing in your pc then there isn't much way of you being identified.

The pc came loaded with os etc so thats not an issue.

im just thinking what info is transmitted from the PC to the little prepaid dongle that is then passed to the ISP? Can this be hidden, is the mac address the only thing this could be, does the pc itself have a mac address I always thought it was just network adapters, routers etc that did?