| ...assuming there is no malicious intent |
| normal non-malicious wirless hot spot system? |
I'm an optomistic guy...really I am.
But where your computer security is concerned you really can't afford the luxury of these notions. Free...pay...secure...open...wireless...wired...an y time you're connected to the public Internet you should always assume someone is trying to get in.
As far as being tracked or recorded, everything still has to go through a server of some kind, so at minimum each and every web page you visit can be logged. If you're using a hotspot wireless connection like at Starbucks or a free one offered at some office buildings, you can guarantee that there is a lot of logging going on...particularly the free ones. They're opening up their Internet connection to the general public so they have a certain liability to consider as to what is being sent over their network.
If you're using XP's firewall, you can enable security logging by going into the control panel>Windows Firewall>Advanced>Security Logging settings. Other 3rd party firewall programs, free or not, will always have some kind of logging or alert function.