How anonymous are these anonymous posts?

Original Anonymous Post By: anon_108135
Posted by Hellmutt on 04-04-07 @ 10:12 PM

quote: Originally posted by anon_107917

How anonymous are these anonymous posts? Who on ATS can see IP addresses? I'm sure it's a frequent question here.

I'm a moderator. I cannot see your IP here.

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yes but something in the system - a cookie perhaps? - tracks us because all of my anon posts end up having the same ID number tagged onto them even if I don't post for days.

not trying to cause problems but having the same ID number each time we post anonymously doesn't seem very "Anonymous" does it?

Now i just read this and this sure does pose intresting questions, how is it possible for the board to track this same user again and again assigning him the same id?

Website operators such as us are required by law to retain records that indicate the IP address of someone posting a message... however, the laws don't indicate we need to make it easy to extract the IP information.

The IP's of posters to the anonymous board are encrypted, and stored in an unassociated database table with encrypted postID numbers. Only I have the decryption key, and only I know which table contains the data.

That's as anonymous as it can get without non-compliance with legal requirements.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
Website operators such as us are required by law to retain records that indicate the IP address of someone posting a message...

Hey SkepticOverlord, I'm curious.

How long are you required to retain those records
Can they be deleted after a year or two, or are they around forever ?

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
How long are you required to retain those records

The only definition is a "reasonable" amount of time. So one can potentially assume that if we still display a post, it's "reasonable" to retain this type of information.

Cheers for the information, maybe someone should post this on the anonymous board for that concerned poster.

Originally posted by Fett Pinkus
maybe someone should post this on the anonymous board for that concerned poster.

This has always appeard to the right of the form used to create an anonymous post:

Please note. The IP addresses of anonymous posters are retained and encrypted separate from your posts. We are legally required to retain the IP address of posters. This method ensures we meet that requirement while keeping your IP absolutely private and secure. If you post abusive or personal information, we may review the originating IP and block access to the domain.