Member Avatar for Agita

How is it you are identified over the internet?

Even when you flush your DNS and everything else?

  • 5 Contributors
  • 8 Replies
  • 102 Views
  • 2 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Member #127113

Dani AI

Generated

A concise, practical follow-up to the thread: identification on the internet is layered, and a local DNS flush only clears local name-to-address entries — it does not erase the signals that remote sites or upstream networks record. For a short technical primer on DNS caching see Cloudflare - DNS cache.

What and described about the network-side view is one part of the picture; was right to flag browser-side storage as another. Beyond simple name or address information, modern tracking techniques include browser fingerprinting (fonts, plugins, canvas and renderer quirks), persistent storage beyond ordinary cookies (localStorage, IndexedDB, Flash LSOs), cache/ETag tricks, and server-side logs that record headers and TLS/session metadata. The EFF measurement tool and Mozilla docs illustrate how unique browsers can be: Panopticlick (EFF) and .

Practical mitigations that reduce linkage across visits are layered: use tracker-blocking and script-blocking tools, clear site storage (not just cookies), run an isolated browser profile or a privacy-hardened browser (Tor Browser for stronger anonymity), and route traffic through a reputable VPN if masking the upstream endpoint is required. Test exposure with fingerprinting tools to see what is actually visible. See Tor Project for a purpose-built anonymity option.

Caveat: no single change makes web activity untraceable. Site servers, CDNs, and ISPs can retain logs independent of local caches. For privacy work, combine measures (blocking, storage cleanup, isolated profiles or Tor) rather than relying on a DNS flush alone.

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for chuck441

Because your access to the internet involves an address ... that address on the web is the equivalent of your home address, like the postal service uses, except this is an electronic address. All communications get stamped with your address. And gets saved ... somewhere.

If you really want to understand this, do some web searches on the topic. You'll find plenty.

Member Avatar for Member #127113

It depend on your browser ActiveX controls and Cookie handling that how it is set on high security or on low.

Member Avatar for jbennet

IP adress.

An IP adress is like a phone number, it uniquely identifies your PC on the internet. Thats how sites can provide information relative to your local area etc...

Member Avatar for Agita

Does the IP address not change when you switch switches or routers with multiple computers connected ?

(That is to say the IP that you show to the world)

Member Avatar for jbennet

No. The public IP is assigned by the ISP

That ip is public facing (internet side). Routers assign thier own adresses to internal pcs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_address_translation

e.g on my home lan i have 2 pcs, with local IP adresses like and and a router at (i can set these to anything i want). The internet does not see the computers behind the router. It just sees the router at my Public IP (for example , ). The router then routes (thats its job) data from the internet to the correct internal address

Therefore using NAT you can have hundreds of computers behind a router but the internet would just see it as one public adress

Member Avatar for Agita

Cool, I know it was a stupid question that I could have researched (google) but I hate intricate networking stuff. believe it or not I fix hundreds of computers a month. Anything from hardware to software to data recovery. Its just one area I have never had the need to venture into. I have outside teks for that. (my partner handels the networking side)

Thanks for entertaining an idiot.

Member Avatar for DimaYasny

at some point, every real techie moves on to the dark sysadmin side ;) the others just open another computer store and become salesmen :)

Member Avatar for Member #127113

Cool, I know it was a stupid question that I could have researched (google) but I hate intricate networking stuff. believe it or not I fix hundreds of computers a month. Anything from hardware to software to data recovery. Its just one area I have never had the need to venture into. I have outside teks for that. (my partner handels the networking side)

Thanks for entertaining an idiot.

Why you feel itself a idiot ? Your question about IP have no any fake arguments but you have spoted the privacy problems...right ?

Feel free to post around here...:)

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.