How To Know Someones Ip Address
3 Easy Ways To Find Someone’s IP Address – Medium
An IP address is simply a numeric address used in networks to identify and/or locate network devices like computers and mobile phones etc. There can be many situations where you need to know someone’s IP address. It is useful in cases when you need to blacklist a device or block an IP while still keeping yourself anonymous or simply when you want to trace someone to determine his/her exact location. Luckily, here are three ways for instantly finding an IP address:1: Use Command PromptOne of the simplest ways to identify IP address is by using the command prompt on windows devices. Only thing you need to do is to open the command prompt and on the DOS screen, type “ping”
Is IP Grabbing Illegal? (All Questions Answered) – SmartyDNS
Your IP address is how you communicate with the Internet. Without it, that wouldn’t be possible.
Since it’s so important, you have to wonder – is IP grabbing illegal? Is it illegal to track an IP address?
We’ll answer those questions (and more) in this quick five-minute article.
Is IP Grabbing Illegal – Yes or No?
First, what is IP grabbing?
Well, it’s when someone uses a third-party service to “grab” your IP address. For example, they might use Grabify. It lets them create a link which they can send to you. If you access it, they’ll be able to see your IP address (alongside other information) on their end, like this:
If they click “More Info” on the right, they can even see your local IP address – the one your device uses on your network.
So is IP grabbing illegal?
Nope. There’s no specific law preventing someone from targeting you with an IP grabbing tool. Your IP address is pretty much public information at this point – just like your street address or phone number.
However, what someone does with your IP address can become illegal.
Here’s When IP Grabbing Is Against the Law
When the person grabbing it decides to DDoS you (basically, force you offline with cyber attacks). They can target your network with a DDoS attack because they know your IP address. In most places, doing this is illegal. DoS attacks, however, might not always be illegal because they’re weaker than DDoS attacks. If someone targets you with them constantly, though, you can contact the the person who grabbed your IP address tries using it to remotely hack your computer. Normally, an IP address isn’t enough to do that, but some skilled hackers could abuse Shared Resources to perform such a cyber attack. They could also use it to scan for open ports, which they then try to exploit to take over your someone uses IP grabbing to target you with phishing attacks. For example, they use it to find who your ISP is, and then they target them with phishing and vishing attacks.
Is IP Tracking Illegal?
It sounds like it should be, but it normally isn’t. It’s how websites keep track of their users, and how they display ads on the Internet. Businesses also use it for all sorts of B2B purposes (marketing, delivering services, analytics, etc. ).
As long as they meet any legal data processing requirements (like the GDPR), there are no conflicts with the law.
Is It Illegal for an Individual to Track Your IP Address?
Again, not really. They can freely use services like IP Logger or IP Tracker to keep tabs on your IP address. There’s no specific law against that.
But if they track your IP address for illegal purposes (harassment, stalking, DDoS-ing, cyber attacks, etc. ), it obviously goes against the law.
Should You Hide Your IP Address?
That’s up to you.
If you want to enjoy more privacy, and not have websites and random people track it, you should definitely do it. The same goes if you don’t want hackers abusing it or using it to DDoS you.
Plus, you get to enjoy other perks if you hide your IP address:
The ability to prevent anyone from finding out what country and city you are from + who your ISP is and what your ZIP code can bypass geo-restrictions and unblock different websites and online services – like Netflix or Pandora can also bypass firewalls at work and school. Also, you can get around government censorship since it also relies on firewalls to block hiding your IP address, you make it much harder for advertisers to track your online movements and spam you with personalized might be able to bypass geographical price discrimination. That’s when sites display different prices based on your geo-location. Hiding your IP address means websites won’t be able to see your geo-location rrenting becomes safer because wannabe hackers, lawyers, and copyright trolls can’t see your IP address in the swarm risk of a cybercriminal logging it and selling it on the dark bans won’t stop you from gaming online or posting on forums.
How Can You Hide Your IP Address?
These are the most convenient ways to do it:
1. Use a VPN
This is an online service that masks your IP address and encrypts your traffic. Here’s how the process works:
You download and install a VPN app on your use the app to connect to a VPN app and the server establish a secure connection between data that passes through that connection is encrypted end-to-end (only the client and server can encrypt/decrypt it) you visit a website, your connection requests go to it through the VPN website receives the requests from the VPN server, so it only sees the server’s IP else who tries looking up your IP address will also only see the server’s address.
Overall, a VPN is a great way to protect your privacy. Plus, by encrypting your traffic, it makes sure that:
Hackers can’t abuse vulnerable WiFi networks to monitor your and surveillance agencies can’t spy on your online can’t throttle your bandwidth anymore.
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Here at SmartyDNS we offer high-speed VPN servers with military grade 256-bit AES encryption and highly secure VPN protocols (OpenVPN, SoftEther and IKEv2), and we we adhere to a strict no-log policy.
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2. Use a Proxy
A proxy server works similar to a VPN – it intercepts your connection requests to the web, and forwards them on your behalf. So any site you visit will only see the proxy server’s IP address.
However, unlike a VPN, proxies don’t offer powerful encryption. Sometimes, they don’t offer any at all.
So you get some privacy by hiding your IP address, but your traffic might not be secure. Also, if you use a free proxy that’s run by a malicious actor, they could log your data.
Generally, you should only use a proxy if you need to unblock a web page. If you need security on top of that, use a VPN. Instead of getting separate services, consider using a VPN whose servers double as proxies. It’s much cheaper.
3. Use Mobile Data or Switch WiFi Networks
If you’re on your mobile and want to change your IP address realf fast, try switching from WiFi data to mobile data.
You’ll use your mobile provider’s network instead of your WiFi network’s ISP, so you’ll get a different IP address.
What if you have a limited mobile data plan and normally use WiFi, though?
In that case, you can switch WiFi networks to change your IP address.
4. Ask Your ISP to Change It
They assigned you your current IP address, so you can ask them to change it. Maybe see if they can offer a dynamic IP address too (one that changes at regular intervals).
If you already have a dynamic IP address, you can usually change it by restarting your router.
Can You Hide Your IP Address with Tor?
Yes, you can do that. Just like a VPN, your connections will go to the Internet through a server. So everybody will see the IP address of the Tor server you’re using.
But we have to warn you – Tor has had and continues to have issues with IP leaks:
In 2017, the TorMoil issue leaked users’ IP might leak your IP address when you try to open Windows DRM rrent clients can sometimes leak your IP address. Certain file types (like PDFs) can bypass proxy settings, causing Tor to leak your IP address.
Besides that, you’ll also get pretty slow speeds because there are only around 6, 000 servers for over two million users.
Is IP Grabbing Illegal? The Bottom Line
Not unless the person grabbing your IP address wants to use it to do something illegal – like DDoS-ing you or hacking into your computer.
For normal purposes, IP grabbing (and tracking) is generally legal. If you’re worried it violates your privacy, use a VPN to hide your IP address. It’s the easiest and most convenient way to do it. If you know other methods to mask your IP address (other than the ones we already mentioned), go ahead and tell us about them in the comments.
Technology vector created by freepik –
Is Your IP Address Your Personal Information? – Techdirt.
from the seems-like-a-stretch dept
Some European politicians in charge of “privacy” issues have decided that your IP address should be considered personal info, along the lines of your name or address. This has various implications for how sites like Google store IP addresses — but also should raise some questions about what sorts of information should be considered private. We’ve already talked about why you should just assume that any information you put online is already public info, but an IP address isn’t exactly something that you “put” online. It’s something that automatically identifies where you’re coming from and is a necessary part of internet communications. While it is true that an IP address can often be used to trace back the identity of an individual, it seems a little odd to think that a bit of information that your computer announces to every site you visit should somehow be considered private. By it’s very nature your IP address is rather public — and if you want to “hide” that information there are various anonymity tools and proxy servers to do so. It seems like a rather artificial construct to suddenly claim that an IP address, which is used to announce where you’re coming from, now needs to be considered private information.
In fact, this whole discussion raises an important (and all-too-often-ignored) issue: personal information and privacy isn’t exactly a binary situation, where information either is, or is not, private. There’s a whole spectrum — and it depends very much on the circumstance. Your name is personal info, but most people are public enough with it. Your credit card information clearly is “private, ” but you share it with plenty of merchants as part of the transaction that you’re making. Your phone number is personal information that you may keep private in some cases, but are willing to make public in others. So, the privacy of personal information varies a great deal based on the context and use — and it seems a bit forced to suddenly declare that a particular piece of information is personal, and therefore must be kept you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
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Filed Under: europe, ip addresses, privacy
Frequently Asked Questions about how to know someones ip address
Is it illegal to look up someone’s IP address?
So is IP grabbing illegal? Nope. There’s no specific law preventing someone from targeting you with an IP grabbing tool. Your IP address is pretty much public information at this point – just like your street address or phone number.Jun 19, 2020
Are IP addresses public information?
By it’s very nature your IP address is rather public — and if you want to “hide” that information there are various anonymity tools and proxy servers to do so. … Your phone number is personal information that you may keep private in some cases, but are willing to make public in others.Jan 23, 2008