Question about ISP's

FIFA1966FIFA1966 Posts: 1,101
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Does anyone know whether or not if an ISP knows as to what websites you've visited?

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  • Gusto BruntGusto Brunt Posts: 12,351
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    FIFA1966 wrote: »
    Does anyone know whether or not if an ISP knows as to what websites you've visited?

    I guess so. Most probably.
  • mac2708mac2708 Posts: 3,349
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    As above but if you're worried/guilty conscience (:D) it may be time to consider a VPN
  • call100call100 Posts: 7,264
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    They would do if they were given a court order to trawl through and find out. Truth is, they aren't at all interested in what you've visited they only want your money.
  • DaedrothDaedroth Posts: 3,065
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    They do keep a log of your browsing history, but cannot use it unless receiving a court order.
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
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    Just ring up GCHQ i'm sure your browsing habbits won't be the worst they've seen
  • zx50zx50 Posts: 91,227
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    Daedroth wrote: »
    They do keep a log of your browsing history, but cannot use it unless receiving a court order.

    They must have Gigabytes of log history then. I'd hate to have to do a search for something in all the data that's been collected over the years by the hundreds of thousands of internet users.
  • cnbcwatchercnbcwatcher Posts: 56,681
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    If they're so interested in the rubbish I visit online then good luck to them. I've got nothing to hide :p
  • FIFA1966FIFA1966 Posts: 1,101
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    So, even if I've deleted my history, they would still know what websites I've visited?
  • StigStig Posts: 12,446
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    FIFA1966 wrote: »
    So, even if I've deleted my history, they would still know what websites I've visited?

    They may have a log stored somewhere, but that doesn't mean a human being has actually bothered to look at it.

    I think you are being a bit paranoid. What exactly are you worried about?
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Stig wrote: »
    They may have a log stored somewhere, but that doesn't mean a human being has actually bothered to look at it.

    I think you are being a bit paranoid. What exactly are you worried about?

    Might not need a human to look if the alarms gone off.
  • StigStig Posts: 12,446
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    Might not need a human to look if the alarms gone off.

    I'm sure the OP is reassured by that comment. ;)

    Speaking frankly, if we are talking about something like child pornography the ISP and authorities are looking for people uploading and hosting illegal materials, and people who regularly browse it.
  • Mr DosMr Dos Posts: 3,637
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    I got an index.dat reader a few years ago and was shocked to find the file contained about half a million urls from when my pc was first built. IE puts data there but not Firefox. I guess when you see on the news 'police analyzed his computer and found he had been accessing child pornography for years' they use index.dat.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index.dat
  • StigStig Posts: 12,446
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    Mr Dos wrote: »
    I got an index.dat reader a few years ago and was shocked to find the file contained about half a million urls from when my pc was first built. IE puts data there but not Firefox. I guess when you see on the news 'police analyzed his computer and found he had been accessing child pornography for years' they use index.dat.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index.dat

    That Wikipedia article looks highly dubious. There are no supporting citations. A Google search for index.dat finds little information either.
  • zx50zx50 Posts: 91,227
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    Mr Dos wrote: »
    I got an index.dat reader a few years ago and was shocked to find the file contained about half a million urls from when my pc was first built. IE puts data there but not Firefox. I guess when you see on the news 'police analyzed his computer and found he had been accessing child pornography for years' they use index.dat.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index.dat

    I wonder if Chrome puts data there as well, or if it's just used for Internet Explorer's browsing?

    Edit: After reading a Microsoft article through a Google search, I think it's just Internet Explorer that uses this.
  • Robbie01Robbie01 Posts: 10,417
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    zx50 wrote: »
    I wonder if Chrome puts data there as well, or if it's just used for Internet Explorer's browsing?
    Chrome (and Firefox) store their data elsewhere on a computer, both create cache files in the AppData/Local folder of the user profile and this is where the browsing history for both browsers can be found.
  • StigStig Posts: 12,446
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    zx50 wrote: »
    After reading a Microsoft article through a Google search, I think it's just Internet Explorer that uses this.

    Is that the Microsoft article from 2007 about IE5.5? :rolleyes:
  • barky99barky99 Posts: 3,921
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    routers also keep a log of sites visited don't they?
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
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    barky99 wrote: »
    routers also keep a log of sites visited don't they?

    Generally not for long...they're normally used as DNS servers to lookup the actual IP address v's the name and the lookups they do will expire after a time as they'll be considered out of date
  • call100call100 Posts: 7,264
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    Mr Dos wrote: »
    I got an index.dat reader a few years ago and was shocked to find the file contained about half a million urls from when my pc was first built. IE puts data there but not Firefox. I guess when you see on the news 'police analyzed his computer and found he had been accessing child pornography for years' they use index.dat.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index.dat

    As CCleaner etc. wipes the index.dat files. I doubt they would be anything to give concern....Unless of course you didn't clean your PC on a regular basis...;)
    To be honest, unless the two major parties get their way and manage to get the Communications Data Bill passed through parliament, the ISP's are not compelled to retain any data.
    Should you keep voting for these professional politicians, your privacy will be eroded to zero, if they get half a chance.
    Luckily the Country found a use for Nick Clegg (about time) in holding out against The Tories and Labours attempts to tear up our rights.
    I guess the revelations about GCHQ may have kyboshed some of Cameron's more lunatic ideas for a while.....We can but hope...:D
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