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that does raise an interesting question regarding FR though... i wonder if they do track IP addresses of posts? that is the one connecting piece of information that is used to trace and 'anonymous' id back to a user's ISP which, along with time based recording, can identify the computer from which the post was made.

that does raise an interesting question regarding FR though... i wonder if they do track IP addresses of posts?

That is a good question we should ask of Jim Robinson. How long does he keep his raw http logs (that store your IP), does the application log posts (tie IP to posting, more reliable than trying to match http log times with posting times), and what is his policy for revealing a poster's email address?

FR could be a giant Democrat conspiracy to collect information on us all in order to crush us! All about us will be revealed when Hillary runs for President.

Yes. Just about every action that changes information in our database, including posting articles and replies, is logged with an IP address and time stamp. This information is kept for an indefinite period of time (at least years.) It's standard procedure among websites and perhaps a legal necessity; a bacon saver, mostly the operator's... though I can imagine a scenario where this information would be used to save a user's bacon as well.

In addition, every request for information from our web server is also logged with an IP address and time stamp. The later - called an access log - grows rapidly out-of-hand. We delete ours daily, it's just too much. Typically, websites keep access logs only long enough to summarize. The file is then discarded. Those summary records are kept for the life of the website, and contain no traceable information.

Nothing earth-shattering. It's business as usual on the Internet. Absolute anonymity is a myth.