Web sites getting email address from browsing

[Luc Grondin]

To continue the discussion...

>>...  Is it possible that some scripts (Javascripts for
>>instance) would be able to read the identity variables from the user's
>>browser?
>>
Thomas Dowling wrote:
>It's conceivable that the company in question is buying a 
>mailing list from some other site where you did enter your 
>e-mail address, or culling addresses from mailing lists 
>you subscribe to...
>...It's also possible that they're piecing together your
>address from your REMOTE_HOST environment variable and finger.

My machine is a Win95-based PC with no reverse DNS lookup set, and no
finger deamon.  I receive my mail on a Netware server that is not on the
same class C IP domain (I mean that 'aaa.bbb' are the same but not
'aaa.bbb.ccc'.  Am I correct to call that class C?).

>Check http://www.anonymizer.com/snoop.cgi for a possibly startling
>demonstration of what a web server can figure out about you.

This is what I read on the page Thomas mentioned above:

   "Java and Javascript are disabled because they can access 
   sensitve [sic] information inside your web viewing program 
   -- your e-mail address and the history of the pages you've 
   read, for example. "

Thomas could be right by saying that the companies which sent me those
messages could have got my address from some directory.  However I find
that it is a disturbing coincidence that I got those messages a couple days
after being on this...euh...not recommendable Web site.  Also, is it
possible that the latter site has registered me automatically, and without
my knowledge, to the Verisign free trial, to get money from them?  (It is
too bad I deleted those messages.  Now that I think of it, it would be a
good thing that I check with Verisign.)


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            Luc Grondin
     Bibliothecaire/Librarian
     Bibliotheque des sciences
  Universite du Quebec a Montreal
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