I share a wireless network with my housemates, if one person is downloading from kaza and another is downloading from itunes, does the isp know the difference- is it just bandwidth or can they see who is downloading what?
They can tell what is happening on the internet connection. When I have called my cable company for information they have been able to tell me which of the three comps on my network were online and what they were connected to. Not much privacy from your ISP since everything you do goes through their server.
Like bigc said, everything goes through their servers, so they can see whatever you are downloading or uploading. Exception is if you are using encryption.
Yep, Nick's right and there are many anonymizer services around that will encrypt your connection between your computer and their servers. In so doing, your ISP will only get a bunch of encrypted data, that they can't read, and they will only see you connecting to the anonymizer services server. So they won't be able to determine what other websites you visit or what you download. A few problems with this is, you have trust the anonymizer service because they could be keeping records and pass those records on to a third party (e.g. big brother or MPAA etc.) even if they claim they do not keep records, or just set up to spy on you. The anonymizer service will know where you go and what you download instead of your ISP, so you'll have to decide who you trust more, your current ISP or the anonymizer service. Also most anonymizers slow your connection way way way down, so if your using a high speed connection you may want to consider other options, or prepare to be transported back to the early 1990's when ultra slow dial up ruled the planet.
Out of curiosity, was each computer using an IP address assigned by your ISP? The reason I'm asking is because if NAT is used (which would almost surely be the case for the original poster), it should be very difficult for the ISP to determine which computer was doing what - though they could detect that NAT was being used.
so they know the exact url of the website? even images..? that is kind of "big brother" like when u least expect it. especially since they know your name, ur home address, and probably keep logs of this.. lol damn i must be considred a porn ahalic to them
The computer is where I most expect it. They can know where you go but likely they don't know what you're doing when you get there. It's like the phone company knowing where you phone but they don't listen in on the call. Technically, it's not hard for them to find out if they wanted but legally, I think they're prohibited from doing so. Those privacy rights are getting eroded little by little, however. On the other hand, it doesn't take the FBI to find out what you're looking at when a DNS query comes in for bigbooties.com.
Hi, In some countries, using encrypted connections is forbidden. Besides, you are being spied upon in every which way, everywhere, so just make sure you're a lawfully obedient citizen and do not download (too much) porn and you'll be all right. Mrk
