I posted a similar message to this on the Legal board, but wanted to open it up to the general discussion.

The Phoenix bust got me thinking about hobbying anonymously. I had always been told that a pre-paid phone only helped hide it from the wife or SO, but in the case of using an agency, it could also help you legally. If an agency keeps a record of your name and phone number only and you use a pre-paid phone (assuming you don't use email) then you are virtually untraceable. The police couldn't even contact you in a bust. You would just need to toss the phone in the trash.

Now if you use email then you put yourself at greater risk. Is there a way to use email anonymously so that your messages can't be traced back to you personally? I figure the only way to do so would be to check your mail on a public computer. Anyone else have any thoughts or ideas on this subject?

any email you send will have your ip address, which is traceable maybe harder with some email services but still traceable.

most things like anonymous remailers only allow you to send, not receive, emails.

one option is to open a webmail account either on a public computer (library, etc) or use an open wireless connection.

another is to get an email address through a server that's dedicated specifically to preserving the anonymity of its users - one that does not keep server logs, etc.

but, honestly, i can't see the police going to the trouble of getting a court order (if they could even get one with no evidence that a crime has even been committed) to compel a company to give up their server logs to try to bust somebody. way more trouble than it's worth.

but if you want to go that route then this link: http://ipinfo.info/html/anonymous-email_3.php

Unless I'm really missing something here, how much time and resources do you really think a vice squad has to chase down possible clients of a provider or service?  No, there is no such thing as a totally untraceable email but you CAN have a Yahoo email account fairly anonymously and, again, how much work are they going to do to find you?  If you are an Elliot Spitzer and laundering money through the Caymen Islands to pay for multi-thousand dollar trysts through a high-profile, interstate callgirl service, there just isn't much to worry about.

Making a misdemeanor solicitation case after the fact is, for all practical purposes, impossible.  What does the record of a phone call occuring prove?  Nothing except that SOMEONE from one phone called SOMEONE at another phone and talked about SOMETHING.  Frankly, the throw away phone idea is overkill and I would be more worried about explaining to the SO why I had a 'throw away phone' than about the phone call record - but thats just me.  

This isn't J. Edgar Hoover and the whole Federal Government cracking the Brinks Job folks.  "I want a lawyer and I don't have anything to say to you" is going to stop the whole thing in its tracks anyway.
not a lawyer
MVR

I've heard that cells can be traced back to location.  Assuming that to be true, are you really invisible to LE?

Now, the probability of that is slim, unless you contemplated a run for public office, but if you really want to be invisible, doesn't the payphone at the other end of town accomplish that better than even a ppd cell?

I seriously doubt that LE would look at cell phone positioning for a prostitution charge. The point is that if you have a pre-paid cell and the number to the phone ends up on a list with an agency that gets busted, you just throw the phone in the trash. If they decide to pursue you, they will have no way of contacting you and with only a name and no contact info, there is no way that they could even find you to question you, let alone charge you with prostitution. The email thing is a different story and of course this scenario assumes the agency or provider has no other info about you.

My only point was that a pre-paid phone can't hurt in this situation.

So what you are saying is, cover your phone tracks and don't worry about your emails....so long as you don't say anything that can get you in trouble?

really unless you are a high profile "catch" for LE you are nobody. You are not worth their time or energy. Their sting operation is in its self meant to net prostitutes and unless your name alone will mean something to the public, they won't bother chasing after you.  She could have loads of info on you and your where abouts its all hearsay, she could just be your friend. They want the sure thing and no procecutor will be willing to  chase you down, its a waste of time $$ and its a long shot.  use a throw away phone,
pay cash and see well reviewed Ladies who screen well and you will be all set. I know you need  to be cautious, but paraniod is a bit much. Its not that hard to cover your tracks. Use your head..the big one that is.

I wonder if there is a LE person reading these posts saying to him/her'self, "tsk, tsk... sheesh. These people... they've got it all wrong (or right)!"

I would so love to have a LE person anonymously (and naughtily) tell us all what the deal actually is, rather than everyone guessing! Wishful thinking I know... but hell it'd be interesting to read!

x

get your hobby phone at a store you haven't been to before, and most like won't visit again.  Pay cash, never credit card.

For email... follow the ladies lead and use yahoo, gmail, or another one of the free, but mostly trackless services.  Nothing is perfect with email, but so long as there is no paper trail of payment back to you, it's most likely safe.

Look at the idiots who got caught.  Usually it's using a work cell phone and/or email account.  One with lots of tracking.

Again... use common sense.

And believe that I said so previously.  My only point was that even the toss-away isn't perfect if they REALLY want you.

I never used the agency that got in trouble recently, but would probably be nervous if I had.  Realistically though, what do they want me for?  I'd just add one more middle aged fat guy to their list.  Other than scaring the crap out of me, not many people would raise an eyebrow to see my mug on a website.

1. How Anonymous are PM's sent through TER?  
2. How Anonymous are emails sent through Hushmail?

Sign up for a service like www.anonymizer.com. They delete their logs daily, so even if LE could get a search warrant, by the time it was presented, the information would have been deleted (that's the theory).

Sign up for a free e-mail account while using the anonymizer service. That way, there is no path back to you.

Buy a pre-paid/pay-as-you-go phone, and register it to your anonymous e-mail (again, using your anonymizer service).