Every device connected to the internet has a public IP address — a number assigned by your internet service provider that identifies your connection to the wider internet. You can find yours instantly using our free What Is My IP tool, which shows your IPv4, IPv6, location and ISP in seconds.
But what does that number actually reveal, and who can see it?
What Your IP Address Reveals
Approximate location. Your IP maps to your ISP's regional infrastructure, which gives a rough indication of your city or region. This is not your exact home address — IP geolocation is typically accurate to city level 50–80% of the time, and country level almost always. Your exact street address is not exposed.
Your ISP. The organisation that assigned your IP is publicly visible. Anyone checking your IP can see whether you use BT, Comcast, Verizon, a mobile carrier, or a cloud hosting provider.
Whether you use a VPN or proxy. VPN and data centre IP addresses are well-catalogued in threat intelligence databases. Services like ip-api.com can flag your connection as a VPN, proxy or Tor exit node within milliseconds of a request.
Your connection type. Mobile carrier IPs, residential broadband IPs and cloud server IPs have distinct characteristics that are identifiable in most IP databases.
Who Can See Your IP Address?
Every website you visit receives your IP address — it is technically required to route responses back to your browser. This includes websites you browse, APIs you call, email servers you connect to and any online service you use.
Beyond websites, your ISP can see all of your unencrypted traffic and your DNS queries. Government agencies can legally request this data in most jurisdictions. Network administrators on WiFi networks you connect to can also see your activity.
What Someone Cannot Do With Your IP
Despite common myths, knowing someone's IP address does not give an attacker access to their device. Your IP is not a password or a key — it is just a routing address. What an attacker can do with an IP is limited: geo-approximate your location, attempt to identify your ISP, and potentially target DDoS attacks at your connection.
How to Hide Your IP Address
VPN (Virtual Private Network). A VPN routes your traffic through a server in another location, replacing your real IP with the VPN server's IP. All websites see the VPN server's IP, not yours. Our recommended VPNs list covers audited, trustworthy options.
Tor Browser. Tor routes traffic through three volunteer-operated relays, making it extremely difficult to trace back to your real IP. Significantly slower than a VPN but much stronger anonymity.
Proxy servers. A proxy routes specific traffic through an intermediary server. Less secure than a VPN since proxies typically do not encrypt traffic.
Check Your IP and Test Your Privacy
Use our What Is My IP tool to see your current public IP, location, ISP and whether you appear to be using a VPN. Then use our DNS Leak Test and WebRTC Leak Test to verify your VPN is properly protecting your real IP from leaking.
