- Guys, what happens
if someone gets hold of your IP address?
The answer to this question is crucial
to your online safety.
If you're not sure, don't worry, I'm here to help you out.
But first for reviews, tutorials, and use on privacy,
subscribe to this channel and ring that bell.
(upbeat music)
To avoid becoming a target for cyber crime,
staying safe and private online, is crucial.
A key part of your online privacy is your IP address.
If you've been wondering what this IP address tell you
or rather what it can tell about you,
you've come to the right place.
I'm gonna explain what an IP address does,
what details it can reveal about you,
when you need to hide it
and exactly how to do that.
Your public IP address is basically your internet address.
Just like your physical address
or a Google pin can tell people where to find your house,
your public IP address tells websites, online services
and other devices
how to find and communicate with your device.
An IP address looks like this.
It's a string of four numbers between zero and 255.
If you wanna know what your public IP address is,
you can Google, what is my IP address,
it'll show you here right away.
Visiting a site like whatismyip.com
will go further and show your city an ISP name.
Here's how you can get an IP address.
They are generated mathematically
and then assigned to regions around the world
by a nonprofit organization in the US.
ISPs will buy a whole bunch of IP addresses
and then assign them to their customers.
If you're at work or using a public wifi,
your public IP address is different from the one at home
even if you're using the same device
because you're connecting via a different network.
Even at home, your public IP address can change
if you reset your router or move houses.
ISPs periodically switch up
their customer's IP addresses too.
Now your public IP address is what we usually think of
when we think of IP addresses
and it's assigned to your router,
but each device connected to your router
has an IP address too
because your router meets a way to identify your devices
and they need a way to recognize each other.
These are called private IP addresses.
At this point, you're probably wondering
what does IP address tell you
and can IP address be traced?
These are critical questions.
Firstly, you should know
that other internet users can get hold of your IP address.
Websites and internet services
often log the IP addresses of visitors or clients.
And of course, if they're reputable,
they won't share that with anyone.
But whenever you comment on a blog post or forum,
play an online game or send a message via an app,
a savvy person would be able to glean your IP address.
Even some emails can be used to harvest your IP
when you open the email.
So let's address those crucial questions.
What does IP address tell you?
Does IP address show location?
Firstly, you should know right away that your IP address
can't instantly give out your exact location.
Essentially that address belongs to your ISP.
You're just renting it.
Your IP address does show a general location,
for example your city or town,
but it doesn't show your street address.
So if it doesn't reveal your exact location,
what information this IP address give?
Well in the hands of the wrong person,
an IP address can become a powerful weapon.
You see an IP address tracking software or websites,
someone who has your IP
can find out other info about you online.
Straight away, they can get an idea
of your general location
and after that through social media forums, photo sharing
and other online activities.
They can put together a picture of who you are, what you do,
who you associate with and where you live.
Guys, I know this is scary.
If a cyber criminal gets ahold of your IP address,
you may be hacked, spied on, stolen from or impersonated.
If a cyber criminal manages to pinpoint your exact location,
they may stalk you on social media
to find out when you'll be away from home,
then set up a burglary for that date.
A hacker may even be able to use your IP address
to force a connection to your device.
Once connected,
he or she could potentially take over your device
and steal whatever information is on there,
like your ID number or bank details.
But I'm not gonna drop this nightmare on you
and leave you with no solution
because there is a way that you can keep your IP
from falling into the wrong hands,
or at least, minimize the harm of your IP leaking.
First of all you can change your privacy settings.
On windows, it's easy.
Just head to Start, Settings and go to Privacy tab.
There, you can change what apps can access your location,
language list, and other things
that can give away information about you.
Another decent solution is using a proxy server.
If you run your connection through an intermediary server
to hide your true IP address behind the server's IP address,
the downsides of that method
is that a lot of websites straight up
ban access through proxy servers.
And that's where VPN comes into play.
Not only VPN hides IP addresses,
by your routing your connection
similar to how proxy does it,
but they are also less prone
to being blocked by your websites.
And even if one IP is blocked,
VPNs have thousands of servers in their disposal.
Building a virtually unbreakable tunnel of safety
between your device and a VPN server,
is not the only benefit of a VPN.
VPNs also use complex encryption methods
to make sure that no one can intercept your traffic
as it's passing between your device and the VPN server.
This is why you can also use a VPN
to unblock geo restricted content
on streaming platforms like Netflix and HBO.
Connecting to a server in another country
makes it look like your device is in that country.
Problem solved.
You need to know that your VPN provider
can see your IP address.
So although a VPN hides IP address free,
VPNs could be unscrupulous
and may sell data on users to third parties.
Always check out the privacy policy
before you purchase a VPN.
Top VPN services, keep no logs.
They don't record personal details
like your IP address and what you do on the web.
I can personally recommend these three VPNs
that have a free version
as an example of a legitimate reliable service.
All of them have a free and a paid version,
but if you really wanna get a paid VPN,
you should go for the top level software.
VPNs like NordVPN, Surfshark, PrivateVPN, ExpressVPN
and CyberGhost are battle hardened services
with a long track record of unrivaled performance.
You can't go wrong with any of those.
Of course, having to pay money for VPN
is a drawback for a lot of you guys,
but that's a choice for you.
Use VPN and protect yourself with comforts
or face the escapable reality
of being blocked from your favorite website
when using a proxy.
Guys if you've been wondering what does IP address tell you,
does VPN hide IP address?
I know I've put your mind at ease
and answered those questions.
Do you feel secure online?
What are your experiences with using a VPN?
Please share your thoughts and any more questions,
we meet down in the comments below.
Now, for some juicy deals on VPNs I mentioned in this video,
check out the link in the description.
Subscribe to this channel
for your weekly dose of privacy reviews, news and tutorials.
Thanks for watching.
(upbeat music)