On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 17:31:43 +0100, Timwi timwi@gmx.net wrote:
Secondly, I really don't like the idea of reinforcing this paranoia that exists about IP addresses. Far too many people already think knowing someone's IP address is a ticket to reading their personal files on their hard disk. At the same time, they think you can hide your IP, and don't know that every server you contact records it.
Perhaps mentioning "Your IP address is being recorded" and providing a link to a page that explains the points you just made?
There must be _some_ logic to notifying potential bad-guys (or -gals) that their address is being recorded, since the overwhelming majority of credit card authorization sites I've ever seen do so.
I also agree wholeheartedly with your point about IP paranoia being a silly thing in general. It's not true that IP addresses are always visible, however -- there are public anonymizers that basically act as proxy servers for people who really are that paranoid. Only the IP of the proxy would show up in server logs (although that leaves open the question of whether you can really trust those anonymizer services...)
-Bill Clark