Can GMail be traced?

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I want to find the identity of emailer that sent harassing emails from Gmail. The Google web site FAQs were not clear. Here are some of my questions:

What legal steps do you take to trace a Gmail IP address?

How do you file a complaint?

Do you have to get a judge to order a search warrant?

What legal basis would Google justify releasing the IP address?

Does the email recipient need to show how they have been damaged?

Where do you serve it to in Google?

How much does the 1st Amendment protect Google from releasing the Gmail senders identity?

How does Google maintain records? (The incident I'm investigating occurred in March 2007 - about 18 months ago).

What is Google's procedure for handling requests for tracing the senders?

How long would it take to get this information from Google?

I suppose that if you have a dynamic IP address as many people have from their home ISP it would require two warants, one to Google and one to the ISP and both would have to maintain their records going back to the time in question. The IP address from Google would have to be matched to the ISP's records to actually find you.

Hey Tami, you should try Googling it.

I have had the same questions now for about 18 months. I have been stalked by an anonymous emailer who has threatened me and knows my every move. The individual has used numerous names and accounts, yahoo, hotmail and anonymous remailers that are impossible to trace. Now the individual has opened a gmail account and I have tried to trace through outside companies and sources. I am getting no where. I have been told by my local police department that it could take years before they could actually work the case and by that time the individual starts up another account. I too find it wrong that a person can email and not have any consequences for their action. This individual I have allowed to change my life style and hide from the public eye. The sad thing is that I am a realtor and will always be in the public eye. I feel helpless and think that if you open up accounts that they should be legitate names and be accountable for their actions. Ip addreses should be made visible from that persons computer or traced. I too have children and would not want them to suffer in the way that I am.

Dominic, could you explain what you mean by the "image trick"? How exactly does this work? You send an email with an image. And then?
Thanks! John

Yes, it's sad. Google will not reveal the originating IP address. This is a shame, the Help page on this discusses: "Protecting our users' privacy is something we take very seriously. Personal information, including someone's exact location, can be gathered from someone's IP address, so Gmail doesn't reveal this information in outgoing mail headers. This prevents recipients from being able to track our users, or uncover what may be potentially sensitive personal information.

Don't worry -- we aren't enabling spammers to abuse the system by not revealing IP addresses. Gmail uses many innovative spam filtering mechanisms to ensure that spammers have a difficult time sending bulk emails that arrive in users inboxes." Fine for spam but what about the scums that use gmail for scams (Craiglist is filled with scammers) and anonymous abuse? Google and Gmail: "Do no evil?" maybe but help evil, absolutely yes unfortunately.

I hate google for all this n all time .. I can't get the ip addres of the sender always abusing me using gmail account and about spams gmail is full of spams and is not hacker safe i hv seen lots of people loosing there orkut and gmail accounts.ALSO reply from google is like a big dream come true.

I would think that the easiest way to find out the identity of the person behind the email address is via social engineering. 1. Create yourself a gmail or hotmail or whatever account. 2. Send the unknown email address a personalized offer that they cannot refuse. All they have to do is provide a name/number etc. 3. A check will be mailed... You do not need their SSN or anything just a name to which to write the check and an address.

You get the idea. Stupid people fall for this crud. You just have to convince him that he/she is risking nothing and may gain something.

If you are really tech savy you could setup a web page for him/her to go to... Then you got the IP of his/her machine... Think smarter than your opponent.

Regards,
Tim

If someone is sending you bothersome emails, has it ever occured to you to BLOCK the sender?? Thats a pretty clever idea..you think???

Yes, send him money. Send him money using Paypal. Send him $5.00. Five bucks and you have him. He'll have to use it and if he accepts it, you have a record of it in Paypal and his/her information. Now, if you want to get cleaver, keep sending money, about a dollar every week, get him used to it, he'll eventually want to withdraw the money because now you have him trained to this measely dollar a week, free money, get it? Then send an email with an even larger amount but you need an address for the check to be sent. Greed gets everyone at one point. Just be creative about it. Use another email address from the one you have and just keep sending money, this guy will think you're nuts and love every dollar of it. Hey, what's a few bucks to catch a person with no sense (cents), get it?

Also, try these guys out. http://www.readnotify.com/readnotify/about.asp

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