Reverse DNS shows my email address

[#1]

hi, i occasionaly use GRC shields up facility to check the security of my pc, and one of the things it hightlights is my reverse DNS name is martin2006.plus.com which is visible to any  website i visit. is this a security concern as i thought it would be a bit more discreet than that.
i have posted the page below.
The text below might uniquely
identify you on the Internet
Your Internet connection's IP address is uniquely associated with the following "machine name":
[color=red]martin2006.plus.comThe string of text above is known as your Internet connection's "reverse DNS." The end of the string is probably a domain name related to your ISP. This will be common to all customers of this ISP. But the beginning of the string uniquely identifies your Internet connection. The question is: Is the beginning of the string an "account ID" that is uniquely and permanently tied to you, or is it merely related to your current public IP address and thus subject to change?
The concern is that any web site can easily retrieve this unique "machine name" (just as we have) whenever you visit. It may be used to uniquely identify you on the Internet. In that way it's like a "supercookie" over which you have no control. You can not disable, delete, or change it. Due to the rapid erosion of online privacy, and the diminishing respect for the sanctity of the user, we wanted to make you aware of this possibility. Note also that reverse DNS may disclose your geographic location.
If the machine name shown above is only a version of the IP address, then there is less cause for concern because the name will change as, when, and if your Internet IP changes. But if the machine name is a fixed account ID assigned by your ISP, as is often the case, then it will follow you and not change when your IP address does change. It can be used to persistently identify you as long as you use this ISP.
There is no standard governing the format of these machine names, so this is not something we can automatically determine for you. If several of the numbers from your current IP address (212.159.101.17) appear in the machine name, then it is likely that the name is only related to the IP address and not to you. But you may wish to make a note of the machine name shown above and check back from time to time to see whether the name follows any changes to your IP address, or whether it, instead, follows you.
Just something to keep in mind as you wander the Internet.[/color]
many thanks
Andy

[#2]

Hi Andy,
It's actually been like forever, and the old portal forums used to show your username as your display name.
If you raise a ticket to Support they'll be able to get it changed to something like your IP address.

[#3]

This has be raised by the PlusNet UserGroup with the suggestion that the IP address is used by default instead of your hostname.
Chilly

[#4]

thanks guys, so do i raise it with PUG or raise a ticket with support,
sorry being a bit dum
cheers
Andy

[#5]

Joining in with PUG and voting on the issues there is a great way to get them further publicity and therefore get action taken sooner, but if you want immediate action on your own rDNS you'd definitely be better raising a ticket.

[#6]

Once you have registered with PUG, you can vote on PUG Issue Tracker;
Direct link to rDNS;
http://usergroup.plus.net/pugit/view.php?id=116

[#7]

Martin - this is exactly what I found ages ago so I raised a ticket and after a couple of days it was changed (but it had to be tweaked a couple of times before it was right). It now reads IPaddress.force9.co.uk.

[#8]

Thought we had to have a static IP to do this.
Regards .....

[#9]

thanks for the replies but now i am getting more confused, does it matter what it says as i presume that some of the legit websites like ebay use it to recognise me when i visit which i dont mind them having my identity but others that you may get linked to by spam etc i might not want to have that much detail.
is it better to have just an ip address as a list of numbers rather than my isp account name.

Andy

[#10]

Andy, it's entirely down to end user preference. I wouldn't want my rDNS to be in such a format that it personally identifies me (ie. my full name). If it was something relatively obscure though then I probably wouldn't mind it being my account name. Somebody who knows how our usernames are allocated is theoretically able to find out your account name or catch-all email address from your default rDNS but whether or not that's ever going to cause you problems is debatable.
@road-runner, the rDNS for dynamic IP's follows a different format. If somebody is assigned the dynamic IP 87.113.64.118 and is connected to the gateway pte-ag2 then their rDNS would look like this:

87.113.64.118.plusnet.pte-ag2.dyn.plus.net

[#11]

Quote from: Bob

@road-runner, the rDNS for dynamic IP's follows a different format. If somebody is assigned the dynamic IP 87.113.64.118 and is connected to the gateway pte-ag2 then their rDNS would look like this: 87.113.64.118.plusnet.pte-ag2.dyn.plus.net

I learn something new everyday 
Regards .....

[#12]

i think i would rather it was just a load of numbers, at least then some numpty cant try and get into my plusnet account or whatever else they get up to.
i will raise a ticket i think,
cheers guys
Andy

[#13]

Quote from: Jameseh

If you raise a ticket to Support they'll be able to get it changed to something like your IP address.

Hi James - can you clarify what the options are for alternatives to <username>.plus.com - I can't find any information on the support site that lists them.

[#14]

Hi there,
Your rDNS options are:
- username.plus.com
- ip-address.plus.com
- any domain on your account
- any domain for which you have proven ownership

The info is found in the Help Assistant, under Tech Support >> Domains and DNS >> Change my reverse DNS
Hope that helps.

[#15]

From the Help Assistant

Quote

Alternative Reverse DNS options The available rDNS configurations are: username.plus.com (Default setting) your-static-ip.plus.com (ie 212-159-0-2.plus.com) any-host-name.domain.co.uk* domain.co.uk* * The domain name may be any domain already hosted on your PlusNet account. We can also delegate rDNS to a non-hosted domain however you must create the forward DNS record first. We may also ask you to provide proof of ownership of the domain, for example a scanned copy of the domain registration certificate. The hostname can be anything (sensible!), but it is only possible to have a single subdomain (ie host.host.domain is not possible). If you have a block of IP addresses you can request one hostname for each IP.

Hope this helps.
Roger.
Edit: Mand got there just before me.