Question for you tech savvy people

If I'm logged into YouTube, and copy and paste a link (or share one from my phone and copy that link) here, does the link leave any trace of my account? Is there some sort of signature attached?

Not directly, but if logs are produced due to a court order, the logs can be coordinated to pretty much certainty that it was the same entity.

Youtube is owned by Google....Google keeps all user history.

Nope, dive right into it.

Posting a link contains no information other than the link itself. It contains NO user related information at all. Its just a path to a location on the internet. Logging on the server might contain information about when the link was posed and by who but the link itself is completly anonymous.

Google keeps history if you havent turned it off in your google account history. By not diabling it you gave google consent to furnish to authority if they are asked and they have it. How ever that setting does not apply to youtube.

Google keeps history if you havent turned it off in your google account history. By not diabling it you gave google consent to furnish to authority if they are asked and they have it. How ever that setting does not apply to youtube. Originally Posted by ftwjoe

I read an article yesterday that said Google changed its privacy policy within the last year, and that users no longer have the ability to turn off data collection, i.e. everybody's data is being aggregated regardless of the setting.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/25/tech/i...cy-andrew-keen

If I'm logged into YouTube, and copy and paste a link (or share one from my phone and copy that link) here, does the link leave any trace of my account? Is there some sort of signature attached? Originally Posted by addict

No, but the opposite will leave a trace: if you watch a youtube video while you're logged in, that video will be recorded in the history of your YouTube account.

Again, the link itself leaves nothing at all. Its just letters and numbers. No one can look at the link and find out anything about you. The site may log IP address but even that is usless without a court order. If you log in with an account of some type then you do leave traces but again, no one just looking at the link can find out anything about you.

If you use a mobile device like a laptop or smart phone that uses a wireless network such as at Starbucks or McDonlads or some other public network, the IP address is completely useless as well as there is no way to know who used that IP address. EX: I can create all the Hotmail accounts I want and as long as I always use a public network to access the account, no one can track me becasue there is no way to know who used the IP address to access the account.

Even if you used a public network like Starbucks, I guess they could theoretically provide logs of what devices accessed what at what time, but really it's a huge pain to backtrack all that.

As OldButStillGoing stated though, the link itself doesn't have any trace of your account (unless of course you're doing something like providing a link to something you posted yourself).

YouTube can just be subpoena'd for logs of what IP's accessed that video at what times, but that's all the user information they'd have on you.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

If you use a mobile device like a laptop or smart phone that uses a wireless network such as at Starbucks or McDonlads or some other public network, the IP address is completely useless as well as there is no way to know who used that IP address. EX: I can create all the Hotmail accounts I want and as long as I always use a public network to access the account, no one can track me becasue there is no way to know who used the IP address to access the account. Originally Posted by OldButStillGoing

Sorry, but you're only partially correct. While you can't be traced by someone with only the IP address, if they follow the IP address to Starbucks, Starbucks can provide logs that provide your MAC address. MAC addresses are assigned to individual devices. They should be unique, but since they can be edited, you can change your MAC address to one that is already assigned to another device.

So, with an IP address and the cooperation of Starbucks (or McD's, or whatever), they can get closer to your identity, but they still would have to find a way to match your MAC address with your identity somehow. If you logged into the Starbucks network with personal info, well, you're hosed...

There is no registery of what devices have what MAC address. The only way if can be used is if the device is obtained and checked back against the logs. So, as long as you use a public wirelwess network you are untraceable for any real world purpose including LE being able to track and identify you.

Sorry, but you're only partially correct. While you can't be traced by someone with only the IP address, if they follow the IP address to Starbucks, Starbucks can provide logs that provide your MAC address. MAC addresses are assigned to individual devices. They should be unique, but since they can be edited, you can change your MAC address to one that is already assigned to another device.

So, with an IP address and the cooperation of Starbucks (or McD's, or whatever), they can get closer to your identity, but they still would have to find a way to match your MAC address with your identity somehow. If you logged into the Starbucks network with personal info, well, you're hosed... Originally Posted by Crock

The only way if can be used is if the device is obtained and checked back against the logs. So, as long as you use a public wirelwess network you are untraceable for any real world purpose including LE being able to track and identify you. Originally Posted by OldButStillGoing

Well, I'll admit it's not likely for mongers like us, but I assure you that LE is willing and able to search logs on MANY different public wifi networks, and that, over time, they're able to match those MAC addresses to a person that they want to track. There is also always the possibility of a "honeypot" network. LE sets up a network near Starbucks and gives free wifi to everyone willing to connect, which also allows them to see every bit of network traffic.

It's not easy to stay truly anonymous if you're connecting to someone else's network.

I work Security and Abuse for an Internet Service Provider. Crock is right, using the Internet from a public network does offers very little protection. People truly surf the net like no one is watching. Going to a public network does little to hide who you are. Cookies and your MAC Address can give you away as easily as your IP address. If you're using the same device that you use at home, that's pretty easy to track down. Everyone(Networks) keeps logs, all it takes is a court order who's been where. If you use the "Share" feature on Youtube, you can easily be tracked. Depending on where you post the link, it's possible you can be identified from there are well.

At the very least to remain anonymous you need:

• A proxy server
• A device you've never connected to the Internet with before
• Never sign in to any website that you've logged into before with same Username and password you've used from a non-secure connection
• Always browse in Private Mode
• Don't surf anywhere that has cameras
• Make payments for your connection using a source that can't be traced back to you

Pasting a link for a video on Youtube is pretty safe. Most of the Youtube requests I get are to find out who uploaded the video, provide account info on people stupid enough to upload videos of their crimes, or some copyright violation.

At the very least to remain anonymous you need:

• A proxy server
• A device you've never connected to the Internet with before
• Never sign in to any website that you've logged into before with same Username and password you've used from a non-secure connection
• Always browse in Private Mode
• Don't surf anywhere that has cameras
• Make payments for your connection using a source that can't be traced back to you

Originally Posted by Roger.Smith

And keep in mind that if you connect to a honeypot network, none of that matters, they see EVERYTHING. But, again, that's very resource-intensive and highly unlikely to be used for us mongers...