What an IP Address Can Reveal About You

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Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada 

 IP Address - General remarks on IP address functionality

Knowledge of an IP address allows a searcher to obtain other information about a network, device or service. Specifically, one can:

  • determine who owns and operates the network. Searching the WHOIS database using an IP address can provide a range of information about the individual4 (which could, in turn, reveal organizational affiliations) or organization to which the address is assigned, including a name, phone number, and civic address5;

  • perform a reverse lookup (the resolution of
    an IP address to its associated domain name) to obtain a computer name6, which often contains clues to logical and physical location;

  • conduct a traceroute (a computer diagnostic tool for displaying the route (path) of packets across an IP network) to find the logical path to the computer, which often contains clues to logical and physical location;

  • determine the geolocation of the computer, with varying degrees of accuracy. Depending on the lookup tool used7, this could include country, region/state, city, latitude/longitude, telephone area code and a location- specific map;

  • search the Internet using the IP address or computer names. The results of these searches might reveal peer-to-peer (P2P) activities (e.g., file sharing), records in web server log files, or glimpses of the individual's web activities (e.g., Wikipedia edits). These bits of individuals’ online history may reveal their political inclinations, state of health, sexuality, religious sentiments and a range of other personal characteristics, preoccupations and individual interests; and/or

  • seek information on any e-mail addresses used from a particular IP address which, in turn, could be the subject of further requests for subscriber information.

    According to Electronic Frontier Canada8, even non-commercial Internet activity, such as reading documents on web pages, invariably requires the transmission of IP address information that can identify what one reads online.

What we found ...

To illustrate the process, a simple test was conducted using, as a starting point, the IP address of the web proxy of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

A WHOIS lookup revealed that the IP address was assigned to Public Works and Government Services (PWGSC), with an address of 350 KEDC (this is the King Edward Avenue Data Centre), Ottawa, ON, K1A 0S5. The technical point of contact is listed in this entry, including full name, email address, and phone number.

Using the IP address as a search term yielded more than 240 ”hits.” The results revealed that individuals working behind the IP address had visited sites dealing with, for example:

  • search engine optimization training;

  • Canada's advertising and marketing community;

  • web governance;

  • identity management;

  • privacy issues;

  • legal advice related to insurance law and personal injury litigation;

  • a specific religious group;

  • fitness;

  • online photo sharing;

  • the revision history of a Wikipedia entry; and

  • specific entertainers which, in turn, exposed a variety of usernames.

    3. IP Address - Information about individuals

    It should be noted that the above information was based on the online activity of a group of computers, not an individual work station. Having said that, the process used to derive these results applies equally well to the case of a residential subscriber. The specific information that can be retrieved however depends on how active the subscriber is online and how the websites he/she visits treat IP addresses (i.e., do they expose them to indexing by search engines).

    To show what an IP address can unlock about an individual, a similar analysis was undertaken using IP addresses more representative of an individual subscriber.

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What we found ...

Starting with people who were active contributors to Wikipedia, we found that conducting searches using the IP address shown by this site often reveals a detailed profile of an individual's activities.

For example, the IP address of one individual Wikipedia contributor9 revealed that the person has:

  • Edited hundreds of pages on Wikipedia about television shows, both North American and international. The interest in TV shows was extensive and specific, but the details are not included here for privacy reasons;

  • Edited dozens of pages on Wikipedia related to history topics;

  • Participated in a discussion board about a television channel; and

  • Visited a site devoted to sexual

    preferences following an online search for a specific type of person. [MORE]