What Does IP Stand for and How It Affects Your Privacy
In the past, we relied on the telephone and mail to relay communication, and today with the advent of the computer, we depend on the internet to forward all sorts of information and data. What made it possible for the postman to deliver the right mail to the correct recipients is that the correct address was given.
For devices such as computers and mobile devices to connect to the internet, they require to have their unique address provided, with billions of them connected to the internet today, surely there should be a way to identify which one is which.
What does IP Mean?
Our devices carry a unique series of numbers that makes them identifiable to other devices that they are communicating to over the internet, this identity is referred to as an Internet Protocol Address (IP add).
Which network protocol is used to route IP addresses?
IP addresses are routed from the internet protocol. Our internet service provider is the one that gives our devices an IP address to guarantee that information is sent and received by the correct parties. The IP add’s format is divided into two: a Network ID to identify the host's network, and a Host ID to uniquely identify the host in that particular network.
How are IP addresses classified?
To ensure that networks make use of the IP address bits for the network ID and host ID efficiently and according to their needs, classifications were introduced and were defined as follows:
- Class A is for networks with a large number of hosts.
- Class B is for medium to large-sized networks.
- Class C is used in small local area networks (LANs).
- Class D is used for multicasting and is not allocated to hosts. This class is used for audio and video streaming, such as Netflix and Spotify.
- Class E is reserved for future purposes and research. Therefore, they are not available for general use.
What does an IP tell you?
They can not reveal your name, age, or further confidential information, however, they can reveal your location, down to the city you are in; the name of your internet service provider (ISP), and its area code. The information they provide isn't necessarily your personal information, it’s rather, information regarding the network to which you are connected from.
Even though IP addresses can't outright reveal personal information, a skilled hacker may use the information it reveals to follow your online activity and piece together who the person is. This alone presents considerable security threats and risks that you shouldn't ignore. Hackers could install all sorts of malicious software like malware to arrest your device and take away the control of your device from you.
How to protect personal IP from third parties
An effective and simple way to protect your IP address from third parties is to use a VPN service. A VPN makes your online activity to be unidentifiable, it does by using encryption. You can also completely change your IP address, effectively positioning your geolocation in a different place from where you are accessing the internet.
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