How to Hide Your IP Address?
We all love the perceived anonymity of the internet, but many of us don’t realize there are several reasons we may still wish to mask or hide our IP (Internet Protocol) address.
What is an IP address? An IP address is a unique series of numbers which represents your computer’s digital ID while you are online. Cloaking your actual IP address via encryption allows you to remain anonymous when browsing the Internet.
It does not identify you personally, but your IP address identifies your point of entry to the Internet. Thus, it can be used to trace your communications back to your employer’s network, your ISP, your school, or even a public terminal—any site you’ve looked at.
Each individual device must have an IP address of its own in order to identify itself and communicate with other devices when connected to an IP network. Think of your IP address as being similar to your physical address or telephone number. Would you want that information to be immediately available to anyone who inquires?
Why would you hide your IP address?
Of the several reasons you should mask or hide your IP address, the most obvious is privacy. You have probably figured out by now that our IP addresses are used by a variety of entities to keep track of almost everything we do online. For better or for worse, you can even be physically located by your IP address—although not precisely without a warrant.
1) Browse websites without leaving a trace of your identity.
Browse anonymously; use encryption to mask your online identity.
2) Don’t miss a thing while you’re out of town on vacation.
Going on vacation but don’t want to miss your favorite show while you’re gone? It’s simple to use a VPN to conceal your IP address and to connect to the appropriate country server to safely enjoy streaming content.
3) Stay safe from snoopers looking to access your information.
Protect your online identity by concealing your actual IP address.
4) Protect yourself when using a Wi-Fi hotspot.
Hotspots are unsecured and open to everyone; therefore they can be quite dangerous. You can effectively hide your IP address from an unprotected network by using a VPN.
5) Access websites unavailable to your IP geographic location.
Use an encrypted IP to access content otherwise unavailable to you with an encrypted IP Address.
VPN access
Indeed, if you want to be able to surf the web to your heart’s content without feeling as if you’re being ‘followed,’ you need to mask or hide your IP. Fortunately, we can now do that with Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
A VPN offers a connection to another network, and once it is connected your computer receives a brand new IP address from the provider.
VPN providers help us get on the Internet with a different IP address than the one assigned by our ISP. Here are a few:-
- “Hide My Ass” (30 Day Money Back Guarantee)
- Vypr VPN (Free Trial or 30 Day Money Back Guarantee)
- Express VPN (30 Day Money Back Guarantee)
- Pure VPN (7 Day Money Back Guarantee)
- Ivacy VPN (Most affordable (7 Day Money Back Guarantee)
Proxies
There are thousands of free web proxy servers available that you can use to shield your IP address and surf anonymously. Browsing through a proxy means that you are not accessing a website directly, but are going instead through an intermediate, or “proxy” that relays the information back and forth between you and the destination website. You can surf more safely without worrying about being stalked.
Security, load balancing, and data caching to reduce bandwidth requirements are just a few of the reasons to use proxies. Filtering proxies protect you from cookies, banner ads and other negative content. Some anonymous proxies encrypt your communications to protect you from monitoring and surveillance. Use caution, though, not all proxies are anonymous or secure.
- There are a number of free Proxies; You can hide your IP address and safely surf to your heart’s content via free proxy servers.
- You may wish to conceal your identity from your competitors. You can easily do so by using a proxy server.
- A proxy will not reveal your geographical location.
- Prevent Website Tracking: Every website or webpage you visit is tracked by the server hosted by the website owner. Hide your IP address to conceal your web visits.
- If you still feel insecure, you can use Wi-Fi services offered by any public entity, such as a coffee shop, restaurant, or other public place.
Protect your identity
The internet is full of “deplorables” and most of them want to victimize those who have too casual a relationship with their identifying information. The safest way to protect yourself and your vital information is to stay off the internet altogether, but that probably isn’t very likely. When you hop onto the internet with a “naked” IP address, you could soon find yourself with almost as many followers as Jesus.
With your IP Address out there for all to see, steal or appropriate, you are definitely taking a chance with your identity. Your location, your ISP, and who knows what other personal information is vulnerable. Unfortunately, in today’s world there are multiple reasons to cloak our identities when using the internet. The most obvious, of course, is the need to protect our identity and other sensitive information, such as our location, our IP address, and our privacy.
One popular option is to protect yourself by using any of the free or paid proxy servers that populate the internet. Without protection, your privacy and other sensitive information may well be monitored, compromised and/or threatened. With the protection of a masked or hidden IP address, you can be more confident that your information is safe.
Use someone else’s network
Alternatively, you may use free Wi-Fi services offered by a coffee shop, hotel or any other public location. An IP address does not travel with your computer, but is assigned by the router located in the area you are in.
Our right to anonymity
Amendments 4 and 5 of the United States Bill of Rights protect our right to be free of unwanted and unwarranted intrusion by government. These rights apply also to our personal and private affairs, papers, and possessions.
Anonymity also serves whistle blowers, free speech advocates, and people just looking for personal privacy online. Privacy is not a crime and anonymity is not morally ambiguous or wrong, those are your rights. Protect your IP address.