Browsing the Internet is similar to driving a car. Every car has license plates that help identify it. So on the Internet, instead of license plates, there are addresses IP on every device that is online.
Every time you use programs such as web browsers to connect to a website, browsers provide a lot of information about you to the server where the website is located.
Each connection reveals the IP address to the server, and in return, it will display the server's IP address.
The same goes for other types of Internet. An email client like Outlook or Thunderbird uses the mail servers to connect to the server, sharing the device information you are using with the central servers and other users. Basically, the IP address is revealed with every connection a device makes.
An IP address, like a car license plate, does not necessarily reveal the driver, but only the owner of the connection.
Your IP address reveals public information. It can be used to find out what Internet service provider you use, but it cannot be used by your neighbor to reveal your home address.
Things are very different for requests sent by authorities to Internet service providers. Providers store all additional information such as date, time, IP addresses and the clients used with those addresses.
If authorities request information about an IP address, they can correlate the data and discover much more information, since your ISP knows your home address and the account owner.
[label]There are two main methods for protecting yourself online:[/label]
1. Use an Internet connection that cannot be associated with you. This can be done by using public WiFi.
2. Use a proxy or VPN server. This places a security layer between your IP address and the Internet. This means that all connections that the servers see come from a proxy or VPN IP. There are of course ways to detect and correlate the connection, but it doesn't take much more than a request to your ISP.
Source: secnews.gr
