An IP address is a unique identifier of the internet. Each website and each person on the internet can be identified using the IP addresses.
Computers can connect to each other using a naming system, making sharing data possible. A standard IP address (IPv4) is a set of four individual numbers which are separated by full stops.
Even though every computer in the world has its own IP address, the outside world doesn’t really have access to it directly. The reason is that the routers are the ones which connect to the internet rather than the individual computers.
Basically the router is the bridge between you and the internet.
So basically when you connect to a website or when you send emails, the IP address they would see is that of your router which your ISP provided.
That being said, don’t think there’s no information about you.
What personal information is available with the IP address?
The most personal information that you can get from an IP address alone would be your geographical location and your internet service provider (ISP).
You can try it for yourself. Go to whatismyipaddress.com and you will see the details readily available about your IP address.
Now I’m in Vilnius, Lithuania and when I go to that website, these are the information that can be seen:
As you can see here, it shows the:
- geographical location
- Country
- City
- ISP
- Longitude and Latitude
However this doesn’t provide the exact street or apartment where I’m from.
With solely the IP address a person can figure out the Location and the IP address of a person. This alone is not much but with a couple of steps more it’s possible to check the online activity associated with a particular IP address.
By joining all the available information it’s possible to make a full profile of a single person. This is where it becomes a bit dangerous.
By using the information it’s possible to get a glimpse about an individual without needing any prior judicial authorization. This means that your employer will be able to see all the internet activity at work.
Also your ISP could figure out a lot about you and what you do online.
By knowing just the IP address of a user there were cases where authorities were able to pinpoint cybercriminals. By contacting the ISP the authorities could identify persons engaged in illicit activities online.
Bottom-line is that the ISP has an eye on your activities online. They know which websites you visit, how long you stay there, what purchases you made and more. If the ISP knows this information, then it’s a matter of an email that the government will have access to this data.
Internet is no longer free as it was used to be and there’s always someone looking at every move you do. This is why it’s crucial to have a VPN when you’re surfing the web.
If you value your privacy and don’t want people snooping on every move you make it’s time to make the change. Once you have VPN Surf your local IP address will be masked with one of our own!
This means that if websites check for your IP address, then they will not get your personal IP but will be replaced with one of ours. Best part is that we don’t keep any logs of our users!
Let me explain why. We value people’s privacy and we intend to keep it that way. Plus data is super expensive and data breaches cost a lot to organizations. We don’t want to face any data breaches and have millions of dollars go down the drain.
Do you value your privacy online?
Use VPN Surf and surf safely and securely in the open waters of the internet.