Paranoid Wi-Fi question for techies

[MatzoRella]

Can Disney spy on Web activity over their Wi-Fi network? (I don't plan any salacious surfing , but it's nice to maintain one's privacy on political blogs and banking sites.)

 

[bowbat]

Can Disney spy on Web activity over their Wi-Fi network? (I don't plan any salacious surfing , but it's nice to maintain one's privacy on political blogs and banking sites.)

It's an unsecured network, so I personally didn't log onto any banking/financial sites when I used it. Oh, and it wouldn't let me access one of my celebrity gossip sites, because it deemed it "R-rated" (it was DListed.com). Pssst...Disney? I'm over 17. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone.

 

[MatzoRella]

Interesting! Thanks.

 

[jaceraden]

Just to address the salacious part. I wanted to access Damn You Autocorrect one night and it was deemed inappropriate and I couldn't access it.

 

[vicki_c]

I don't think Disney spying on you would be your biggest concern on the unsecured wireless network. More concerning would be others (either other guests or locals cruising the parking lots). I would not use any financial or banking sites on an unsecured network. Or enter my credit card # anywhere.

 

[Agator82]

Be paranoid, paranoid is good. If you are on an unsecured wireless network that you do not own then you should be paranoid because it is easy easy easy for anyone, not just WDW, to spy on you.

As a general rule I recommend that anyone accessing a public WiFi network which is not under their control to get a VPN (Virtual Private Network) service. This will secure your data through the network and prevent another user from seeing your sensitive information.

Some that I have known people to use in the past include StrongVPN.com, Witopia.net, and USAIp. There are others with different pricing and services. The idea is that at the end of the day you want to keep your private data private and there is no guarantee on an unsecured wireless network no matter how reputable the business hosting it is.

My apologies for being a bit of a doomsdayer, but this is a topic I am very passionate about. Safe surfing.

 

[Sammie]

using an unsecured site does not affect connecting to a secure site such as your bank etc. it simply means it has open usage by all in the range.

A secured site would simply mean that it is password protected from others using it.

As to Disney blocking certain sites they deem not appropriate or using too much bandwidth, that is possible.

 

[MatzoRella]

Many thanks, Agator and Sammie.