What user data does South African ISPs store about their clients usage?

J

jhoward

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Hi There,

In terms of internet usage (i.e. Websites visited, downloads, peer-to-peer downloads, etc.) what information do ISPs store, and how long do they keep this information for?

Also, do ISPs keep records of every IP assigned to each client?

I know that they do store most of this type of info in America, but was wondering how South Africa and its ISPs operated..?

Also, is this information readily available for any ISP employees, or only with a court supoena?

Thanks!
 
Hahahaha.. I haven't done anything :D

I just think that it would be some really valuable info to get hold of and discuss. We, as ISP clients, are basically left in the dark regarding what our ISPS know and store about us and our usage... :wtf:
 
jhoward said:
Hahahaha.. I haven't done anything :D

I just think that it would be some really valuable info to get hold of and discuss. We, as ISP clients, are basically left in the dark regarding what our ISPS know and store about us and our usage... :wtf:
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Fair enough, you make a good point. They do not really disclose what they keep.
 
I proxy to VPN to SSL most of my traffic (mostly to watch hulu.com and netflix and buy stuff from UK and US stores). I don't like the idea of someone knowing everything about me, and me not knowing anything about them. And anyway, if you really wanted to remain completely anonymous, you'd use TOR rather than HTTP anyway.

That being said - as far as I'm aware - South African ISPs don't log websites you visit (unless obvious blacklisted - you know, obvious blacklist sites), but they do log and keep a record of everyone's IP and login telephone line number. (Which I agree with, this is a good thing to do). That way if they are given an IP and time, they can see exactly who was logged in and where.

As far as I know, it is relatively easy to see what telephone number is attached to an IP that is currently in use, but you need a court order to get access to yesterday's/last month's/10 years ago's IP logs.
 
agentrfr said:
I proxy to VPN to SSL most of my traffic (mostly to watch hulu.com and netflix and buy stuff from UK and US stores). I don't like the idea of someone knowing everything about me, and me not knowing anything about them. And anyway, if you really wanted to remain completely anonymous, you'd use TOR rather than HTTP anyway.

That being said - as far as I'm aware - South African ISPs don't log websites you visit (unless obvious blacklisted - you know, obvious blacklist sites), but they do log and keep a record of everyone's IP and login telephone line number. (Which I agree with, this is a good thing to do). That way if they are given an IP and time, they can see exactly who was logged in and where.

As far as I know, it is relatively easy to see what telephone number is attached to an IP that is currently in use, but you need a court order to get access to yesterday's/last month's/10 years ago's IP logs.
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Well, keeping a log of IP addresses makes sense. As far as I am aware, SA ISPs dont care much about what you do on the internet, up until it affects their network, so if you download 24/7, they might get interested.

Another interesting thing would be to know how much SA ISP news servers log, as they dont have a known policy as with the paid ones.
 
The second question is the big one: the interception and monitoring of specific use requires authorization under RICA so it is very strongly judicially protected however ordinary logs can and certainly are handed over by way of proceedings in terms of section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act. ISP employees may have more access to client data than they should but will get into serious trouble for any form of abuse. Both because of RICA and because frankly see no evil know no evil and plausible deniability ISPs really don't want to know more about their clients use than what they are legally obligated to know and what ensures that the bills are paid. A lot of monitoring for network quality could probably leave privacy exposed but collating of data will need to be done and this goes back to RICA.
 
Paul Hjul said:
The second question is the big one: the interception and monitoring of specific use requires authorization under RICA so it is very strongly judicially protected however ordinary logs can and certainly are handed over by way of proceedings in terms of section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act. ISP employees may have more access to client data than they should but will get into serious trouble for any form of abuse. Both because of RICA and because frankly see no evil know no evil and plausible deniability ISPs really don't want to know more about their clients use than what they are legally obligated to know and what ensures that the bills are paid. A lot of monitoring for network quality could probably leave privacy exposed but collating of data will need to be done and this goes back to RICA.
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This makes sense.
 
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