Can IP Reveal My Home Address?

In computer networking, an IP address (internet protocol address) is a unique number that devices use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a network utilizing the Internet Protocol standard. Sometimes this address is shortened to just "IP" as in "My IP is A.B.C.D". Any participating device (including routers, computers, time-servers, printers, internet fax machines, and some telephones) must have its own globally unique communicable address.

It's true that your IP address is no secret. It's a basic part of internet communication protocols to send your IP address whenever you connect to another site, request a web page, chat, play an online game, etc. Without your IP address, the computer on the other end wouldn't know where to send the reply.

There are many my IP websites which will tell you your public IP address. Some of them also have tools to lookup IP addresses and provide generalized location information based on IP to location databases. In some cases they can estimate the location of an IP address within a few miles. When you visit this site http://www.ipandmap.com, you can find your IP address and your local city map.

But that doesn't mean that evildoers can find your house if they know your IP address. Each time you go online (if you have dialup) or each time you start your computer (if you have cable or DSL connection) you will be assigned an IP address, randomly selected from a pool of IP's assigned to your Internet service provider (ISP).

So a person might be able to get a general idea of your geographic location, based on your IP address, by doing a lookup on the WHOIS database, but that will only tell them the physical location of your ISP -- not your home address. With enough resources and effort you may be able to be identified. So don't say or do anything that you don't want tracked back to you.