What can someone do with your IP address?
On this page
Less than you fear. From your IP address alone, nobody can get your name, your street address or into your accounts. They can see your internet provider and roughly which city you are in, tie your activity together across sites, knock your connection offline or probe it for exposed devices.
Your IP address is also less secret than you think: every website you visit sees it, and so does anyone you torrent with.
What is an IP address?
An IP address is the number your internet provider gives your connection, so data knows where to come back to. At home, every device on your Wi-Fi shares one public address.
Most Australian home connections get a dynamic address, which changes from time to time. A static one, which never changes, is usually a paid extra.
What your IP address reveals
- Your internet provider.
- Your approximate location, usually your city or region. Not your street.
- Nothing personal by itself. Your name and address are not in it.
Only your internet provider can link an address to a person: it knows which customer had which address, and when. Australian providers must keep that record for two years, and can hand it over under a lawful request or court order.
How someone can find your IP address
- Visiting a website. Every site you load logs it.
- Clicking a link. A link in a message can lead to a page set up just to record the address of whoever opens it.
- Torrenting. Everyone sharing the same file can see everyone else’s address.
- Online games and voice or video calls. Some connect players directly, which exposes addresses.
- Email, sometimes. The major webmail services hide your address, but mail from some desktop programs and smaller providers includes it in the headers.
What can someone do with your IP address?
Tie you to what you do online. Advertisers use your IP address as one of several signals to track you across sites. Copyright monitors collect the addresses of people sharing files; see is torrenting illegal in Australia?
Knock you offline (a DDoS attack). Someone who knows your address can flood it with traffic and cut your connection for a while. It happens mostly to gamers and streamers.
Block or ban you. Services use your address to decide what you can see, and to ban you.
Probe your network. An attacker can scan your address for devices left exposed to the internet: a router with its default password, an old security camera, a forgotten remote-access setting. The address alone gets nobody into your computer or bank. An exposed, unpatched device does.
Narrow down where you are. Combined with other details you have shared, a city-level location helps someone work out more about you.
How to protect your IP address
- Use a VPN. Sites and other users see the VPN server’s address instead of yours. It is the most complete fix, and the only one that also encrypts your traffic. Options are on our best VPN for Australia page.
- Secure your router. Change the default admin password, keep its firmware updated, and turn off remote management and any port forwarding you do not need.
- Be careful with links from people you do not know.
- Restart your router if you think your address has been targeted. With some providers that gives you a new address.
- Use mobile data for anything sensitive when the only alternative is Wi-Fi you do not trust.
How to check what you are showing
Search “what is my IP” with and without the VPN on. The address should change to the VPN server’s and stay that way, even while the app switches servers.
NordVPN managed that when we watched it move from Tokyo to London on 14 October 2026: our home address never appeared. Our VPN test guide walks through the full set of checks, including DNS and WebRTC leaks.
FAQ
Can someone find my home address from my IP address?
Not by themselves. It shows your approximate area. Only your internet provider can match an address to a customer, and it needs a lawful reason to disclose that.
Is it illegal for someone to look up my IP address?
No. IP addresses are visible as a normal part of using the internet. Using one to attack or harass someone is another matter.
Can someone hack me with my IP address?
Not with the address alone. They can scan it for exposed devices, so secure your router and keep its firmware updated.
Should I hide my IP address all the time?
If you use public Wi-Fi, share files or game competitively, yes. Otherwise it is optional. More in do I need a VPN?