Privacy on shared internet

[Foyboy543]

Hi,

I just leased a converted add-on for a home, and the family in the main house has TWC (unfortunately the only available service here). I assume that the set-up costs for adding an entirely separate connection would be excessive, so we've decided to share the internet connection.

However, I'm slightly concerned about the security of my internet usage with this new arrangement. Will the other family be able to monitor my activities? One of the residents is a web designer, so is likely tech-savvy. I'm probably being paranoid, but I'd just like to know about the level of privacy I have and if there are any ways to improve that privacy.

Thanks.

[glc]

If you are worried about your activities being monitored, perhaps those are activities that you shouldn't be doing?

[SpywareDr]

The Eternal Value of Privacy
Bruce Schneier - 05.18.06

... Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance. We do nothing wrong when we make love or go to the bathroom. We are not deliberately hiding anything when we seek out private places for reflection or conversation. We keep private journals, sing in the privacy of the shower, and write letters to secret lovers and then burn them. Privacy is a basic human need. A future in which privacy would face constant assault was so alien to the framers of the Constitution that it never occurred to them to call out privacy as an explicit right. Privacy was inherent to the nobility of their being and their cause. Of course being watched in your own home was unreasonable. Watching at all was an act so unseemly as to be inconceivable among gentlemen in their day. You watched convicted criminals, not free citizens. You ruled your own home. It's intrinsic to the concept of liberty. For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our own uniqueness. We become children, fettered under watchful eyes, constantly fearful that -- either now or in the uncertain future -- patterns we leave behind will be brought back to implicate us, by whatever authority has now become focused upon our once-private and innocent acts. We lose our individuality, because everything we do is observable and recordable. How many of us have paused during conversation in the past four-and-a-half years, [since '911'], suddenly aware that we might be eavesdropped on? Probably it was a phone conversation, although maybe it was an e-mail or instant-message exchange or a conversation in a public place. Maybe the topic was terrorism, or politics, or Islam. We stop suddenly, momentarily afraid that our words might be taken out of context, then we laugh at our paranoia and go on. But our demeanor has changed, and our words are subtly altered. This is the loss of freedom we face when our privacy is taken from us. This is life in former East Germany, or life in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. And it's our future as we allow an ever-intrusive eye into our personal, private lives. Too many wrongly characterize the debate as "security versus privacy." The real choice is liberty versus control. Tyranny, whether it arises under threat of foreign physical attack or under constant domestic authoritative scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty requires security without intrusion, security plus privacy. Widespread police surveillance is the very definition of a police state. And that's why we should champion privacy even when we have nothing to hide.

[quartet-man]

I don't know what if anything Foyboy is doing that he shouldn't be, but I understand the desire for privacy. Even putting things aside like online banking or commerce, I simply don't want someone knowing every move I make (even if I am doing nothing wrong). I guess I am the sort who doesn't want a policeman following me while I am driving even if I am going the speed limit. I have never liked anyone looking over my shoulder and although I am very open, I want to control who knows what. I guess it is akin to I wouldn't want someone unknowing to me be listening in on a phone conversation I was having with someone else. Maybe that's just me.

[SpywareDr]

"If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged."
Cardinal Richelieu

[pam123]

Instead of making assumptions about the cost of a separate connection, check it out.
If there's a connection for the main house adding one for yourself may be less then you think, especially if you and the landlord split the cost ( He gets to be much more attractive to future renters when you decide to move on.).
I would consider it a necessary investment that will avoid a possible landlord/tenant conflict.
I don't think you're paranoid, your life is your privacy and you don't have to justify or explain it to anyone unless they have a subpoena .

[oryx]

On the other hand, what if the people you're sharing with are doing something they shouldn't be and it brings the police come to your house? I think that's another reason to keep things separate.

[Blaster3]

this is what i did... 1 modem to acess internet from there hardwired to a 'wired' router used as a main then from that router i 'wired' to 2 other routers. then one of those routers is 'wired' to my computer, the other is used to connect all other users computers. i believe this is called a 'Y' set up. this config stops everyone else from 'seeing' my computer. its very simple/easy to set up and i been connected that way for several years now without any issues/conflicts. routers are linksys BEFSR41 but you can probably do same with wireless but check with glc. he the 'guru' that helped with my set up.

[Foyboy543]

Pam, I will look into the costs for a separate internet connection.
However, until then, or if the costs are too much, can anyone shed some light on my question about the privacy and ways to increase it?

@glc, I'm not doing anything illegal, I just don't want my private life invaded by others. I imagine that you wouldn't want someone peering in your bedroom window 24/7, even though you're not doing anything that you shouldn't be doing.

[glc]

No matter what you do, your landlord will be able to monitor your bandwidth usage as long as he has access to the house's main router.

If you disable everything except TCP/IP on your local area connection, he will not be able to get into your computer. You should also disable NetBios over TCP/IP.

Putting in your own router in "tandem" on a different subnet would be an additional layer of protection, but that will put you in "double NAT" which some online activities will not like.

[Foyboy543]

Thanks for the answer, glc. I guess I'll just hope that my new neighbors respect privacy. I called Time Warner and they said that they can't give me a separate connection because I don't have a separate apartment number. I miss Verizon FiOS...