What are the Risks of Someone Knowing Your IP Address?
Your IP address is less secret than most people assume and less dangerous than most scare stories suggest. Every website you visit sees it. Anyone you torrent with sees it. What matters is knowing what it does and does not reveal, and when it is worth hiding.
What is an IP address?
An IP address is the number your internet provider assigns to your connection so that 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.
The link between an IP address and a person sits with your internet provider, which knows which customer had which address at what time. Australian providers must keep that record for two years, and it can be handed over under a lawful request or court order.
How someone can find your IP address
- Visiting a website. Every site you load logs it. That is how the internet works.
- 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 to each other, which exposes addresses.
- Email, sometimes. The major webmail services hide your address, but mail sent from some desktop programs and smaller providers includes it in the message headers.
The real risks
Being tied 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?
DDoS attacks. Someone who knows your address can flood it with traffic and knock you offline for a while. This happens mostly to gamers and streamers.
Location-based blocks and bans. Services use your address to decide what you can see, and to ban you.
Probing your network. An attacker can scan your address for devices that have been left exposed to the internet: a router with its default password, an old security camera, a forgotten remote-access setting. The address alone does not let anyone into your computer or your bank account. An exposed, unpatched device is what does.
A rough idea of where you are. Combined with other details you have shared, a city-level location can help 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. This is the most complete fix and the only one that also encrypts your traffic. Current 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. On most Australian connections that gives you a new one.
- 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 a VPN connected. 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.
Should I hide my IP address all the time?
It depends on what you do online. If you use public Wi-Fi, share files or game competitively, it is worth it. More in do I need a VPN?