What is my IP address?

How anyone can see where you are and track what you’re doing online

10 mins Read
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Your IP address is much more than a number: it's what's used to identity and track you and your activities across devices, sessions, and apps. It reveals where you are, when you communicate, and links you to who you talk to or what you do online.

Even Nym – which is designed to help you avoid being tracked by total strangers – can still see a lot about you, including from where you’re connecting. But using a decentralized Virtual private network (dVPN) can change all of this so you don't have to worry. So let's see how it works.

What is an IP address?

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is an integral feature of all web traffic. It is a unique numerical identifier associated with your geolocated device whenever you make a connection online. Any connecting party will also have their own unique IP address, as well as access to your own.

There are different types of IPs: some are based on numerical lengths (IPv4 and IPv6), and others are public or private, or static and dynamic. The most common is the static & public IP given to your device by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), the first service provider that gives you access to the web wherever you are.

Your IP address is basically a digital pseudonym (in either 32- or 128-bit formats). Everything on the web has one: your phone or desktop, the websites and people with whom you connect, or the proxy servers or VPNs you can use in between them. We’ll come back to these proxies soon.

What does an IP address do?

IP addresses facilitate connections between all parties on the web. Imagine trying to send a letter to a friend without including the address! IPs are the addresses which, according to Internet Protocols (IPs), make sure connections are possible and successful.

However, the impact of IP addresses does not end there: they are also the primary piece of metadata by which we are all being tracked online.

Who can see my IP address?

Your real IP address is given by your ISP and associated with your device. It is public. If it is not otherwise hidden behind a proxy, it will be visible to anyone with whom, and through whom, you make a connection.

There are 4 important parties who can view your IP when you’re online:

  • ISPs. Internet Service Providers are how we all gain access to the public web. So when we connect, the ISP will have access not only to our IP address, but also to what or with whom we are connecting. ISPs also know a lot more about you than your IP.
  • Web services. When you go to a website or app, your IP is visible to that service. It will also probably be recorded to track what you look at while you’re there. This metadata can even be accumulated to be sold to third parties looking to profit from mass data analysis.
  • Contacts & apps. Sending a message or email to a friend will also reveal your IP to them. But it will also reveal it to any intermediary parties or apps facilitating the communication (like Meta or Google). These Big Tech companies are the largest data harvesters and surveillance agents in the digital world.
  • Network surveillance. Whatever we’re doing online, there are always entities listening in. Any equipped surveillance looking at networks we are on will be able to see the corresponding IPs.

What is metadata?

IP addresses: FAQs

ISPs, destination servers, network intermediaries, and even the exit node of a VPN/proxy can see your IP. It reveals your location, ISP, routing habits, and can be logged without your consent.

Yes—an unchanged IP can identify repeat activity, behavior patterns, and approximate location. Even dynamic IPs can leak tracking signals when used persistently.

Partially—they mask IP but often don’t protect metadata or ensure unlinkability. Centralized exit nodes can log activity, and repeated use of the same exit IP can still lead to profiling.

They use multiple independent entry and exit nodes, standardize packet traffic, and shuffle routing through mixnets—making it impossible for any single node to correlate your IP with your destination.

NymVPN adds metadata obfuscation—random packet timing, cover traffic, credential unlinkability—and a zero-knowledge protocol that ensures even payment or access methods aren't tied to your identity.

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