Why is it scary if someone leaks your IP address? (i.e., How does doxxing actually work?)

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I am *really* not a computer guy, and this question has kinda been on my mind since I found out about doxxing/IP grabbers ages ago. I didn’t really care too much, since I am not a fan of putting people in danger over twitter like a dickhead, but can someone tell me generally why it’s a serious issue if someone leaks your IP?

Since this sounds as if I’m trying to doxx someone: I’m posting after searching my own IP & I found that most websites pinpointed my address to a different country entirely?? (Still a country next to mines, but definitely more than far away enough for me to care if mines were leaked). Famous people who get doxxed online always move away for safety, so I’m really confused why that is when the website I used to check my own IP address on a bunch of places online at once usually all ended up being a whole country off.

Even though I shouldn’t need to state this outright; **don’t give a step-by-step guide on how to doxx people**. I don’t want to know that. I just want to know why IP grabbing is such a big deal and how doxxing is possible vaguely in a way that forces people to move cities.

In: Technology

40 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

If you’re a typical user, and have a dynamic IP address (randomly assigned by your ISP), the most it can tell you is what country you’re from and maybe the general location (within 100 miles) – though your ISP may be in another region/state, so it could be way off. Your ISP may keep records of what modem it assigned what IP address to on which day and for how long, which would then allow someone to be able to tie any of your web traffic to your household modem.

If you’re a less typical user, you may have a static IP address you’ve purchased. These can show to the street level what your physical address is.

*(edited to add physical to last sentence)*

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