Do most websites log or know the user’s IP address? Is the public IP address required to visit any website and therefore it’s “public” online?
In: Technology
Logging is very common and also necessary for businesses. It is safe to assume that whatever you do on a computer, somewhere it is being logged.
But I think the question is, will you get caught and they will know it is you if you do something nefarious?
An IP address is used by computers to route information. The concept of public here needs clarification. It is visible to other people you talk to and so it is not private. It is not widely known, so it is not public. Using the internet means that your information will be relayed 5-7 (average) times to get routed to the final location. All these computers know your IP address, too.
IP addresses provide some anonymity.
IP addresses provide some clue about your general location, but generally it is not a specific identifier to you. Using a subpoena, the government could figure out who was using the IP address at the time or at least which house/internet connection. IP addresses can change as well. If you go use the wi fi at your neighbor, you are using their IP address.
IP addresses are less anonymous now, because data is crowd sourced and computers try to correlate GPS data with location. So if you are using wi-fi, people may know your general location given your IP address.
You can use an intermediary VPN to keep your IP address hidden. You talk to a middle computer. That middle computer uses its IP address to send your request on. And it sends the replies back to you. So only the middle computer knows who you are. This is actually a quite common security feature for work. If you work from home, you probably have to use the VPN. This prevents any hacker on your network from attacking you directly, because they don’t have your address.
However, for people to send you information requests over the internet (for you to be a web server, for example), then your IP address must be known so people can find you. That often times is publicly announced, such as Google or Amazon, but you may for example only share it with your friends.
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