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Topic: Warning: blockchain.info may register you IP, even if you don't use them! - page 3. (Read 6123 times)

legendary
Activity: 1148
Merit: 1008
If you want to walk on water, get out of the boat
This thread is so much fail.

Quote
and a suggestion to blockchain.info to stop registering IPs of individual transaction, please!
Why? So the government does that BUT does not tell you? This is how bitcoin works, and blockchain.info exposes that. They are doing a service.
hero member
Activity: 547
Merit: 500
Decor in numeris
Blockchain.info is actually dispelling that misconception.

If they were just doing that, I would find it a good thing.  I do for example not complain that they will label any tx to the address in my signature with my bitcointalk.org username.

But blockchain.info are actually reducing the anonymity of bitcoin by registering and storing transient information that would not normally be available later.
legendary
Activity: 1246
Merit: 1077
I don't truly have anything to hide - I just find it surprising (and disappointing) that blockchain.info would really do this!

This is a good thing. Too many people have the misconception that Bitcoin is anonymous. In reality, it takes an expert to make Bitcoin anonymous. Blockchain.info is actually dispelling that misconception.
hero member
Activity: 547
Merit: 500
Decor in numeris
I don't truly have anything to hide - I just find it surprising (and disappointing) that blockchain.info would really do this!
hero member
Activity: 547
Merit: 500
Decor in numeris
When checking whether a transaction had confirmed, I was surprised to see my home town on a map on blockchain.info.  My actual IP was listed with the transaction.  A quick search on the IP gave me many of my old transactions as well.

I am using the Satoshi client (and Armory), so I am running a full node.  As blockchain.info is very well connected, we are all likely to connect to one of their servers.  Your client may do the same, and then blockchain.info gets your IP, stores it forever, and makes it publicly available.  Not cool!

Of course if I truly had something to hide, I would use Tor.  But I don't, I just don't like to see my IP publicly associated with my transactions.  This info is not stored in the block chain, and although anyone could pick it up when you transmit the information, it is not normally available for later analysis.  You could argue that this just shows the lack of anonymity of bitcoin, and that anyone could do the same thing as blockchain.info.  And yes, they could, but it would require a significant effort.  And they cannot analyze the past before they decided to spy on you - except that blockchain.info has done it for them.

Don't get me wrong, I normally think that blockchain.info is a great site.  I just don't think this feature is a good thing, to say the least.  It is also a bit inconsistent on one hand to offer a bitcoin washing/anonymizing service and promise not to keep any logs of its use - and then publish the IP of the originator of the incoming transaction.

Let this be a warning to all of you running full nodes - and a suggestion to blockchain.info to stop registering IPs of individual transaction, please!
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