What benefits do I get from having a different IP address? The site or service sees the IP of the server, not you – so while you may be browsing from Birmingham, Belfast or Boston the site believes you’re in Bangalore, Bulgaria or Belgium. That’s because when you’re connected via a VPN your internet data doesn’t go directly to the site or service you’re visiting it goes to the VPN server, and that server then connects to the site or service (sometimes via multiple other servers for even more privacy).

That’s a real concern in repressive regimes where simply criticising the authorities can put you in prison. IP addresses are also harvested by advertising networks and used alongside other identifiers such as tracking cookies to build a picture of your browsing habits.Īnd IP addresses can be used in subpoenas that compel internet service providers to revel the identity of their customers. Those “this content is not available in this territory” messages on YouTube, or the “this page is not available to users in the European Union” pages on websites? They’re identifying your location from your IP address and shutting you down. Locating you based on your IP address is commonly used to restrict content. That location varies from internet provider to internet provider, so for example our IP address just tells you that we’re somewhere in the UK other ISPs have specific IP address blocks for specific parts of the country, so your IP address may say what city you’re in. Your IP address can be used to identify who your internet service provider is and where you are. What can other people learn from my IP address? If it’s a stand-alone device such as a smartphone it’ll be unique to that device. If you have a router, the ISP will give it its own IP address and that’ll be shared with all the devices it’s connected to (your router then gives each of those devices its own IP address and routes each data packet to the appropriate device, which is why it’s called a router). Every website, every connected computer, every smartphone app needs an IP address in order to work.įor home and personal users, your IP address is given to you automatically by your internet service provider (ISP).

On the internet, that address is an IP address the IP stands for Internet Protocol.

Check out the latest deal from Nord VPN (promoted link)Įverything you connect to a network needs to have a unique address so that it can send and receive data over that network.

Let’s look into both.īut first, let’s discover what an IP address is and why it’s important. (Pocket-lint) - One of the most frequently asked questions about VPN (Virtual Private Networking) services is whether they’ll change your IP address – and if they do, what that actually means.

Does vpn hide my ip address