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We are assigned an IP address every time we connect to the Internet, here’s how to find it and how to shield it to protect your privacy.
Each time one of our devices, stationary or mobile, accesses the Internet, it does so only after assigning it a so-called IP address. (IP address). An IP address is a number that identifies a device and is assigned so that it can be recognized and can send and receive data.
There are actually two IP addresses: local, assigned to your device by the router so that it can be found on your home wireless network, and public, assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP, i.e. who provides your connection to the Internet) so that you can was surfing the net. Without an IP address, our internet service provider would not know from whom the data requests are coming from and to whom they are sent. It’s a bit like holding a letter in your hand without the sender. There are also dynamic IP addresses that are usually assigned by routers and ISPs and change with each connection, and static IP addresses that, on the contrary, are constant.
Why look for an IP address
The entire procedure of assigning an IP address is completely transparent to the user, who usually does not need to know what his IP is. However, in some cases it is necessary.
For example, when we need to use a remote desktop program: in this case, we need to tell the technician exactly what device to look for among the billions of devices connected to the network.
Or when we want to use the computer as a local network server where we can store files that can be accessed by other computers connected to the same network.
How to find your public IP
If we need to find out what our public IP address is, i.e. the one through which other devices connected to the Internet can find us, we can use one of the many appropriate services.
For example, What is My IP Address, which is MyIP, or What Is My IP, or one of the many virtual private network (VPN) services. Simply connect to one of these sites and find out what your IP address is.
What can you find out from the IP address
As the IP address has a standard internationally recognized format, you can learn a lot about your device from it. For example, you can find out the approximate geographic location (city level) and the internet service provider used by the user.
Why use a VPN to hide your IP address
One thing should be clear by now from what has been said so far: the IP address is the first useful parameter for tracking user behavior on the web.
Since the IP address does not change until we disconnect the device from the network and reconnect it, every time we jump from one side to the other, we keep the same IP. So it is very easy to follow our behavior (albeit anonymously).
To avoid this, VPNs have been around for several years that hide your real IP address by allocating a different one and changing it constantly. In this way, it is also possible to make the websites we visit believe that our origin is not true.
There is a reason why VPNs are often used to circumvent geographic restrictions imposed by streaming services, which due to copyright laws can often broadcast certain content only to users connecting from a specific geographic area.
