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I was wondering how safe is forums when it comes to talking. Can someone that doesn't like what your saying about them get a court order to find out who you are? Someone like a business? I know someone that has been talking about their job at a factory on a forum and wondering if the company could find out who this person is?
I doubt a court order would be needed. Pretty easy to match posting times to times not on shift, look for language cues, particular knowledge, etc. If there is slander or gross misrepresentation, a court order could probably be had.
It's rarely used but a court order can certainly be used to find out what information you used to sign up for a forum. Read the TERMS AND SERVICES. They almost all say "we respect your provacy and will not divulge your information unless ordered to by a court of law". OF COURSE keep in mind I can sign up on most forums and completely lie about all my personal information or give very litte.
It's rarely used but a court order can certainly be used to find out what information you used to sign up for a forum. Read the TERMS AND SERVICES. They almost all say "we respect your provacy and will not divulge your information unless ordered to by a court of law". OF COURSE keep in mind I can sign up on most forums and completely lie about all my personal information or give very litte.
You definitely don't need a court order. People are predictable. 99% of the posters use the same alias on multiple forums, you find out their name somehow from postings and suddenly someone isn't anonymous. If you know what you are doing, it isn't difficult to find out that information. The thing is when you think you are anonymous, you really aren't. If you badmouth your company and get specific, it is no different than spilling the beans on Facebook or another social networking/sharing site and you could most definitely lose your job. People should think twice before they post certain things.
IP's are tied to a device, not a person. You'd still have to prove who actually "communicated" the message. So its circumstantial unless you have other evidence. You can trace the IP back to a computer, which is owned by a employee.... but then they can also say that they allow co-workers/friends to use it....
Not saying IPs are useless - but it'd be a tough battle if that's all you have.
Having said all that - it would have to be a pretty serious breach of security or slander for a company to spend money to pursue a forum posting. And as others have indicated - often you don't even need to go that far to find out who it was. Just my .02 of course.
Probably easier with a place like Facebook. Companies don't like their employees to say things that are bad or things that should be kept under their hat, so to speak.
I was wondering how safe is forums when it comes to talking. Can someone that doesn't like what your saying about them get a court order to find out who you are? Someone like a business? I know someone that has been talking about their job at a factory on a forum and wondering if the company could find out who this person is?
Thanks, John
There is a local Forum here for SoMD that posted a notice the other day that a member had filed legal papers to compel the Forum owners to divulge the email and name of another member due to a possible defamation in a posting.
The member whose identification was being sought then had 30 days to respond to stop the release of his information.
Sure it is, I can make mine lie any time. Several wingates through many servers that have holes in them or are open to the public and by the time the trace is made, the logs are usually wiped and you have no clue who I am. Add in the wireless war driving factor and you would have no clue.
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