If i sent an email from my computer using a gmail account is it possible to trace it back to my computer? I have received a yes and no answer from 2 of my friends so was hoping someone would no for sure.
Computer Question about tracing gmail
- Thread starter Luvda_silicone_crinkle
- Start date
Yes, but it’s pretty tedious... only the authorities would ever bother and they would have to have a reason to do so.
Emails generally contain header information with the ip address of the sender. You can’t really find out which computer sent it, and your average person can’t do much more than find out who provides your internet and a rough estimate of address. (Really rough, like city only... and it's frequently wrong.) They definitely could not find information about your computer. It does save a date stamp that your ip provider could match with information saved on their systems, which authorities can use to get the address from where the mail was sent.
I did a quick check with emails I have from gmail and they all come up as googles offices in Hamilton Ontario... It seems Google acts as a proxy and anyone needing your information would first have to go through them, and then your internet provider, before they could get any information on your address or computer id.
If your not at home theres really no way to trace it back to your specific computer... (laptop at a hotspot or something)
*Unless of course they, have physical access to your computer.
Emails generally contain header information with the ip address of the sender. You can’t really find out which computer sent it, and your average person can’t do much more than find out who provides your internet and a rough estimate of address. (Really rough, like city only... and it's frequently wrong.) They definitely could not find information about your computer. It does save a date stamp that your ip provider could match with information saved on their systems, which authorities can use to get the address from where the mail was sent.
I did a quick check with emails I have from gmail and they all come up as googles offices in Hamilton Ontario... It seems Google acts as a proxy and anyone needing your information would first have to go through them, and then your internet provider, before they could get any information on your address or computer id.
If your not at home theres really no way to trace it back to your specific computer... (laptop at a hotspot or something)
*Unless of course they, have physical access to your computer.
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You can track ANY email to the originating IP. Send it from your phone, I can tell you the time sent, the IP adress assigned to your phone at the time the email was sent and the provider. Send it from the office, and you are using an in house Exchange Server, I can track it to your desk. Use a pop account, I can track it to the machines IP address, or the firewall address at the time the email was sent. If you know what to look for and where to look for it, all this can be accomplished in less than a minute with very little effort . With this info, if it was an abusive, threateniong or stalking email the provider can provide the authorities with the name and address associated with the offending email.
Hush mail and a good proxy can hide your tracks from most tracers, but none can hide you from the authorities, unless you are tech savvy enough to cloak your IP address or return a false address. However for the average user, it is best to think that every email you send is NOT private and traceable.
Bob
Hush mail and a good proxy can hide your tracks from most tracers, but none can hide you from the authorities, unless you are tech savvy enough to cloak your IP address or return a false address. However for the average user, it is best to think that every email you send is NOT private and traceable.
Bob
I got this off the internet and was wondering if you believe it to be true:You can track ANY email to the originating IP. Send it from your phone, I can tell you the time sent, the IP adress assigned to your phone at the time the email was sent and the provider. Send it from the office, and you are using an in house Exchange Server, I can track it to your desk. Use a pop account, I can track it to the machines IP address, or the firewall address at the time the email was sent. If you know what to look for and where to look for it, all this can be accomplished in less than a minute with very little effort . With this info, if it was an abusive, threateniong or stalking email the provider can provide the authorities with the name and address associated with the offending email.
Hush mail and a good proxy can hide your tracks from most tracers, but none can hide you from the authorities, unless you are tech savvy enough to cloak your IP address or return a false address. However for the average user, it is best to think that every email you send is NOT private and traceable.
Bob
The account holder of a Gmail account should not worry too much if his IP address appears in the full headers of every email he sends. Most Internet service providers do not allocate a permanent IP address to their customers, but allocate an address from a pool of addresses they own. Therefore, the receiver of a Gmail email can only detect the Internet service provider that originated the email, and not the computer of the individual that sent it.
All the information is stored at the isp, and can be handed over to authorities on request.
The receiver of the email however wont have the means to track you beyond who your isp is.
The receiver of the email however wont have the means to track you beyond who your isp is.
All the information is stored at the isp, and can be handed over to authorities on request.
The receiver of the email however wont have the means to track you beyond who your isp is.
What happened was my girlfriend set up an gmail account and sent an anonymous email to her employer that gave information on another employee stealing. Now the person was fired and is sueing the company so she is worried that her name might come up if this goes to court and they trace the email back to her computer??
Some IP addresses are 'leased', meaning it is semi-permanent.I got this off the internet and was wondering if you believe it to be true:
The account holder of a Gmail account should not worry too much if his IP address appears in the full headers of every email he sends. Most Internet service providers do not allocate a permanent IP address to their customers, but allocate an address from a pool of addresses they own. Therefore, the receiver of a Gmail email can only detect the Internet service provider that originated the email, and not the computer of the individual that sent it.
Agreed, but the time of the email and the UNIQUE MAC address of the device used to send the email, gives enough information to track it directly to the sender, leased or not.Some IP addresses are 'leased', meaning it is semi-permanent.
Provided of course that they have access to your system... or some way to associate that mac address to the actual system.Agreed, but the time of the email and the UNIQUE MAC address of the device used to send the email, gives enough information to track it directly to the sender, leased or not.
So in other words your girlfriend is a rat? LOLWhat happened was my girlfriend set up an gmail account and sent an anonymous email to her employer that gave information on another employee stealing. Now the person was fired and is sueing the company so she is worried that her name might come up if this goes to court and they trace the email back to her computer??
It is NOT needed. The ISP MODEM registers your MAC address, tying it to your location, and the IP address is then assigned either to your Network Card or your routers MAC. It is not that hard at all and you are fooling yourself if you think you cannot be found. For Samart Phones they will use your ESN number or MAC address to find you. Internet Cafe's, smile your being vidoe taped. Coffee shops, again too easy. Never assume that anything you do when connected to the Internet, or when sending or receiving email, is private, because that could not be further from the truth. And connecting to unsecured Networks, look up PACKET SNIFFING and then just DON'T connect.Provided of course that they have access to your system... or some way to associate that mac address to the actual system.
Bob
i heard from a Apple techie that all new computers have a coded id , and this stamp is sent on every mail sent by that computer , dont matter if hush mail or gmail etc.
have u goggled your own email adress? funny how your shit can float to the top.
dont send anything via internet that you dont want public cause in a very short time there is software to read everyones history.
have u goggled your own email adress? funny how your shit can float to the top.
dont send anything via internet that you dont want public cause in a very short time there is software to read everyones history.
We are talking the average user here, not a scenario such as you suggest. TOR (The Onion Router for those who do not know) is not unbreakable either, it just makes it more difficult, but not close to impossible. However, you would probably fly under the radar unless targeted.So what you are saying is that if I bought a second hand computer at a yard sale for cash, never connected it to any network except public internet hot spots using a clean installation of TOR, accessed the internet that way from inside my car in the parking lot outside the cafe (parked so my license plate is facing away from the building), connected to a gmail account (established via a 'borrowed' email account with no obvious connection to me) someone can figure out who sent the e-mail? Dang, I've got to find a more secure way!
