Hiding IP addresses from the logs

[WhoosThis]

I am a bit of a privacy freak these days. Would it be possible to hide ips in the player logs? I don't mind the other information, but really don't like my ip being made public.

Thanks,
WhoosThis

[C64 nostalgia]

+1

[Chuckie Chuck]

Are you aware that virtually every webpage you visit collects your public IP address info?

Also, most connections have dynamic IP addresses, so anytime you power down your DSL/Cable Modem, you usually get a different IP address next time you connect (Most DSL modems have a smart keep alive connection that changes the IP about every 24 hours too, it's called a lease, it will automatically terminate early if there is no modem activity for a certain period of time.)

I don't see how it would really be possible to exclude that from the machine logs anyways, those logs keep a complete record of ever communication between the PC the log is covering, and the other computers involved in the game, if the communication took place between systems, it will be in that log, that's the purpose of the log.  The only solution I can see is making the logs private and only accessible to the person that owned the primary computer that the log was recording.

This has a major disadvantage if you want to compare logs from multiple computers in a game where someone disconnected, or the game glitched, so in that respect, it kinda defeats the idea of having the logs.  Do I see the point of the request?  Yeah, to a degree, but unless you have a static IP, it's really a bit pointless to worry about.  If you run a web server, people accessing the server can automatically pull the IP address just by going to command prompt and pinging a web address.  The ping for the Domain Name will simply go to DNS lookup, to find the IP address the Domain Name represents and the ping response will be in the form of the IP address that server has designated.

Now if they include the MAC address (A part of IPv6, and is unique to every piece of hardware created) you might have a little more reason to be concerned.

IPv6 is not widely used, YET - It will be eventually, because of the limitations of IPv4 that we currently use.  (Once every address between 000.000.000.000 and 255.255.255.255 is permanently allocated, we will have hit the limit on the number of computers that can be connected to the internet at any one point in time, which is why IPv6 was created to include the MAC Hardware address that is unique to every lan card.  We will no longer need a software designated IP address once the internet makes the switch, it will actually simplify and improve the DNS server lookup process and make it faster, but it does take away privacy, it makes you more traceable/trackable.

The day is coming, best stop worrying about it, or quit using the internet.

[Death_Mule17]

hey chuck, do you have any idea if planet mule will be playable when they switch to "internet2/google"? Cuz i hear only the rich will have access to the internet2...whats that mean for planet mule? endgame

[Chuckie Chuck]

I have no idea, as far as I know, that's just rumor.  Not impossible though.

[C64 nostalgia]

Are you aware that virtually every webpage you visit collects your public IP address info?

I think the point WhoosThis is making is the logs are freely and easily seen by anyone trolling PlanetMULE -- member or not. The number of anyone on the internet is amazing bigger than the number of people behind most webpages. In this case, size matters. WhoosThis' concern is valid considering the scope of potential viewers. Something as simple as limiting the ability to view logs to only Planet MULE members would be a gigantic improvement from a privacy standpoint (Google is even providing results from chat logs.).

About dynamic IP addresses: I have a cable modem. If I want a new IP address, I not only have to power down my modem, but also wait, sometimes for hours before powering it back up. But, even if I just needed to power cycle my modem for a new address, I would have to do this every time I played a Planet MULE game... Furthermore, IP addresses often point to their user's physical whereabouts. If somebody wanted to stalk me, it would be easy to substantially narrow my proximity, from my game logs and most any of my dynamically provided IP addresses contained within.

Using a proxy would also be a problem because of lag...

I do agree privacy is becoming evermore elusive, but that doesn't mean we have to give it away. We have every right to challenge and fight for our privacy. Preserving and encouraging privacy is extremely worthwhile and needed.

[Chuckie Chuck]

I do believe I recognized those points in my own way.  Yeah, Cable modems are more difficult to cycle, most are battery backed, you actually have to remove the battery to reset the IP, or have access to the modems maintenance page to renew it.  DSL modems are simpler to reset.  My cable modem even tracked the mac address of the computer/router it was serving, I either had to reset the modem to program a new mac to switch computers/routers, or use a MAC address cloning feature on the new router.

True even dynamics will give a vague idea within 100 miles of where you are, even on DSL (Typically my IP points to one of four areas - Redding, CA - Chico, CA - Sacramento, CA or Stockton, CA)

I will tell you the closest of these cities is within 13 miles, the furthest is about 120.  If you look at a map, The close one is just west of my location, two are 90 to 120 miles south, one is about 90 miles north.

When I had Cable, I knew it was going to point to the closest of these at ALL TIMES.

Web pages that try to use your server for geographical reference, such as MSN Bing, Yahoo, etc will use that info to try to predict your local info, weather and news pages when you are viewing anonymously.  Most the time, I seem to be hooked to the Redding Server, so I usually get redding news, I often notice Sacramento, rare that I note Chico or Stockton, but it happens (funny because Chico is basically where I'm at, you'd think I'd see it more.

Yeah, this is a smaller forum, I agree, the logs should at least be viewable to members only.  Possibly with qualifiers, such as, how many games you have played.

Example

Experience
Level       # Games Played   Access Level
-----------------------------------------------------------
Noob        1-20                 Chat Logs of Games Participated In - Personal Machine Log
Regular     20-50                All Chat Logs - All Machine Logs for Games Participated In
Veteran    50-Lifetime         All Logs - Unless Abuse of Log is Observed (Penalty : Regular Level Log Status)

What constitutes log abuse?

1.  The use of info in the logs to actually track a person, online or physically
2.  Posting maliciously against a user using said info (Cyber Bullying)

Both these rules have real national laws in the U.S. to support them.

Example 

IP tracking to trace other places a user goes on the internet.
Physical stalking - Actually locating and harassing another player in real life outside the internet.
An emotional attack of a persons character (This one is tricky, it's a fine line in the forum between complaining about a users lack of sportsmanship, and actually attacking said person.)
I.E.  Complaints about users such as SockMonkey, Akire1, and others with similar displays of unsportsman like behavior.

I've started compiling list of complaints about some of these users personally.  When possible I identify smurfs.  I've taken to posting my compiled list of Akire1 and his smurfs, and all the related forum post in one single message.  This is mainly in hopes of helping to ensure people have a chance to make an informed decision (particularly noobs) before they choose to play with someone who in my opinion abuses noobs and whose only concern is that the noob promises not to bail before the end of the game, and on the off chance that they out play him and appear that they are going to win, he apparently "looses connection."

Like I said the emotional attack rule is a fine line, I think I've stayed within the limits, but it's thin ice.

(I don't have a problem with smurfs in general, I know many users here have them, most are not abusive in their use of them.  It's fun to figure out who is playing smurf, but we all get irritated when a user uses smurfs to do additional damage.)