From Leo's mailbag:
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: April 11, 2006
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: when might an ISP give out information?
>
> Leo,
> --------------
> I was reading your page about what people can tell from your
> IP address and I was wondering, if someone did want to find
> your physical address, name and what not from the ISP on what
> grounds can they do that? For example:Would it have to be a
> matter of national security? Would they need a subpoena?
>
> Or could a website administrator just call up your ISP and
> ask for info on you? If you ISP were to cooperate would they
> be under an obligation to let you know?
Well, this is less about technology, and more about the law.
And I'm no lawyer, so I'm only guessing here.
A good ISP will respect the privacy of its customers. I suspect
that there may even be a legal need to do so, but I'm not sure.
However I would expect that the police, in the investigation of
a crime (possibly any crime that would justify it), could quite
easily get a court order that would force the ISP to release any
information it has.
I would hope that they would not respond to a phone call from some
random person. For one thing, there's no way to prove that the
caller is entitled to the information, and the ISP could be
setting themselves up for a huge lawsuit if they get it wrong.
And, no, I would not guess that there's any requirement for
them to tell you, one way or the other.
But I'm just guessing. You'd need to talk to a lawyer for more
definitive answers.
Thanks for asking,
Leo
Article 1224
| Category:
Networking
