Re: [Shutup] [ietf-smtp] Proposed Charter for something

[Martijn Grooten <[e-mail]>]

On Thu, Dec 10, 2015 at 04:56:29PM +0000, Richard Clayton wrote:
> an IP address generally indicates the ISP and country of origin (but
> there's a number of edge cases)

The email address does at least indicate the former. Personally, I don't
think country of origin is significant personal information (though here
too there are edge cases).

> for many individuals there is only a short-term linkage between
> themselves and the IP address (think dialup, DHCP systems for broadband
> and carrier grade NAT solutions for mobile) so you can seldom use it for
> long-term tracking of activity ("what else has this person done")

I have been told that in the case of a home ISP, the linkage lasts long
enough that if you send me a job application email from 1.2.3.4 that a
visit to our website three days ago from 1.2.3.4 was quite likely made
from the same house.

I believe this is in part why some legislations consider an IP address
personal data.

A "crypgraphic blob" would still be linked to the customer, but not to
any other activity.

Martijn.