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IP address?
So I was reading a question here about IP addresses and I started to wonder what one was, and then I looked up IP address and a website told me mine, and I tracked it all the way to my house!
My question is, how can people find MY IP address, and if they can, can't they find out where you live?
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I just searched my IP address and it told me where my laptop was registered, which happens to be the college I attend...
I think it's a little creepy how I could search my own IP address and find that out.
Although, as Theymos stated in his answer to the other IP address question you're probably referring to, I was only able to find my own IP address and the address of those on this site because I am a site administrator. There are only a handful of us who have that ability, and we only use it for the purpose of banning users who misuse the site - we are able to ban IP addresses of those who really, really troll the site so they can't create a second account... and only the owner of the website has that ability.
Knowing IP addresses us allows us to see if a user here has more than one account from the same computer, so it helps us see if people are breaking rules, etc.
By searching my own IP address on this website: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
I was able to find out the city I live in (well, the city I registered my laptop in) and that my laptop was registered at a college (that I happen to attend).
I was hoping that it would bring up the city I actually live in (since I attend college a few hours from my home) so I could see if it would bring up my actual address... that way I could have helped you more.
Anyway, as far as I know, people can only find out your IP address if they own or administrate the site you're apart of -- so always be careful of sites you're on.
I don't know exactly what it takes to find someone elses IP address, but they can find your general location from it.
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Think of IP address as your computer's address. Just like how your house has an address, so does your computer. No two computers have the same IP address. If for some reason they do, then neither of them will be able to connect to the internet.
So, with that in mind, let's move on to your two questions.
Whenever you visit a website or chat room, that website or chat room got your IP address. It's that simple. Your IP address can be track by some plug in, scripts, or PHP codes.
Even I, a 16-year-old noob who knows very little about computer and internet, can get your IP address if you visit my website or chat room. (If you want to test this, inbox me and I'll give you the link, but I don't think you should though.)
And about figuring out where you live, the answer is both yes and no.
Yes, with your IP address, people can figure out who your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is, what country you are living in, and what state or province you are in.
But it stops there. There is NO WAY to figure out your exact (and by exact, I mean to the city and the street), location. Only your ISP has this information and your ISP will not disclose it to anyone except yourself and the government.
Alternatively you can mask your real IP address by using a proxy. But most proxies slows down your internet connection by 50% to 90% so I wouldn't recommend it, not that you need to anyway. I don't think there's anyone that have that kind of time in his/her hand to do this kind of useless thing. Heck, we barely have enough time for a 4 hours sleep to begin with. No one would waste their time on such thing, don't worry about it.
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