How long do ISP's keep records/logs?

[triceratops]

How long do most major ISP's keep records and logs (IP logging)? Some paranoid guy at work told me they keep a record of every site you visit for 7 (yes seven) years now...is this true? I would tend to think this would be a major privacy issue, anybody with any info please advise, thanks!

[TonyT]

I don't know that ISP even keep logs of the sites their subscribers visit. I know of no FCC law that mandates that they keep them for a specified number of years.

I would wager that those ISP's that do not have Carnivore installed by the DOJ just overwrite their existing logs every so often, not unlike a web server that is setup to keep two server logs, one monthly log and the previous month.

Server logs are HUGE files and I seriously doubt that ISP's go to the expense of buying new hard drives often. A 50 MB log compresses to about 3 MB in a tar or zip archive. Get the idea of an ISP log easily being minimumly a GB/day uncompressed.

[triceratops]

Yea I thought that 7 years worth of logs would be a bit ridiculous. As far as Carinvore goes, I *think* that can only be installed if someone is already a suspect of hacking or what-have-you, I don't think it can actually be used to log "innocent" people's activity...kind of like a phone tap.

[TonyT]

Carnivore is loaded on MANY isp networks. All that is required is that the govt request that te isp let them install it. It does not take much to initiate it because EVERY isp has some degree of fraud and illegal activities occurring in the network, even if only employees. The govt treats hacking as a lower level incident than potential terroristic stuff and other cybercrime such as theft and fraud.

[ColdFusion]

Most isps dont have money to buy extra hdd's and computers to log EVERY website and every packet you send and recieve/ Kynda a pointless feature if you ask me ...

[bob999]

I cannot speak for America but I do know what is happening in Europe/Uk.

At the moment , all internet records - ie all the web pages you browse - are kept by the ISPs for a FEW MONTHS ! before being deleted . ( go to the bbc news sites to check this up).

However , governments are trying to get this increased to 7 years . 7 Years for all internet records , all telephone calls , emails.

"A draft proposal put forward by the European Commission on "the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector" has been criticised by the civil liberties group Statewatch as "authoritarian" and "totalitarian". Documents leaked to Statewatch reveal that the EU is being lobbied to rip up existing data protection legislation and replace it with laws to give sweeping snooping powers to police forces. According to the Commission proposal, companies should keep a record of all phone calls, faxes and Internet use for seven years just in case police forces need to search them during criminal investigations. "

I suspect the USA Patriot Act will have similar guidelines.