What is IP Grabbing?

You communicate with the Internet using your IP address. That would be impossible if it wasn’t for it.

Because IP Grabbing is so crucial, you have to consider if it is lawful. Is tracking an IP address against the law?

We’ll try and address those questions in this post below.

 

Is IP Grabbing Illegal?

First and foremost, what is IP grabbing?

It occurs when a third-party service is used to “capture” your IP address. They may, for example, employ Grabify. They can use it to construct a link that they can send to you. If you use it, they’ll be able to see your IP address (along with other information) on their end, which will look something like this:

 

They may even see your local IP address – the one your device uses on your network – if they click “More Info” on the right.

So, is IP Grabbing a crime?

Nope. There is no explicit rule that prohibits someone from using an IP capturing tool to target you. Your IP address, like your street address or phone number, is very much public information at this time.

What someone does with your IP address, on the other hand, may be prohibited.

When IP Grabbing Is Against the Law?

• When the guy who is grabbing it chooses to do a DDoS assault on you (basically, force you offline with cyber attacks). Because they know your IP address, they may launch a DDoS assault against your network. In most locations, doing so is against the law. Because DoS assaults are less powerful than DDoS attacks, they may not necessarily be unlawful. However, if someone is continuously harassing you with them, you should report them to the authorities.
• When the person who got your IP address tries to hijack your machine remotely using it. Normally, one IP address isn’t enough, however some competent hackers might take use of Shared Resources to launch such a cyberattack. They may also use it to look for open ports on your device, which they would then try to exploit in order to gain control of it.
• If phishing attempts are targeted at you via IP grabbing. They may use it, for example, to figure out who your ISP is and then target them with phishing and vishing attacks.

Is IP Tracking Illegal?

It appears to be, but it isn’t always the case. It’s how websites maintain track of their visitors and display advertisements on the web. Businesses use it for a variety of B2B reasons as well (marketing, delivering services, analytics, etc.).

There are no legal problems as long as they comply with any legal data processing obligations (such as the GDPR).

Is it illegal for someone to look up your IP address? Not really, to be honest. They are free to monitor your IP address using programs like IP Logger or IP Tracker. There is no particular law against this.

However, tracking your IP address for criminal purposes (harassment, stalking, DDoS-ing, cyber attacks, and so on) is clearly illegal.

 

Why Do You Need to Hide Your IP Address?

Let’s start with our topi c- to avoid IP Grabbing. You should absolutely do it if you want more privacy and don’t want websites and other persons tracking your activities. If you don’t want hackers to abuse it or use it to DDoS you, you should do the same.

If you disguise your IP address, you also gain the following benefits:

• The ability to keep others from discovering your country and place of origin, as well as your ISP and ZIP code.
• You can unblock websites and online services such as Netflix and Pandora Radio by circumventing geo-restrictions.
• Firewalls at work and school can also be bypassed. You can also get around government censorship because it uses firewalls to block websites.
• Advertisers will have a much tougher time tracking your online travels and spamming you with tailored adverts if you hide your IP address.
• You might be able to avoid price discrimination based on your location. When websites display different prices depending on your location, this is known as geo-targeting. Websites won’t be able to see your geo-location if you hide your IP address.
• Because would-be hackers, attorneys, and copyright trolls can’t see your IP address in the swarm, torrenting becomes safer.
• There’s no risk of it being logged and sold on the dark web by cybercriminals.
• IP bans will not prevent you from playing online games or participating in forums.

How To Hide Your IP Address?

Many countries throughout the globe control what their citizens may access on the Internet, and some even utilize it to spy on their citizens’ conversations. You can escape eavesdropping and most, if not all, government censorship measures by masking your IP address.

Use a VPN

This is an online service that encrypts your traffic and masks your IP address, the best tool to avoid IP Grabbing. The following is how it works:

• On your smartphone, you download and install a VPN app.
• The program is used to connect to a VPN server.
• A secure connection is established between the app and the server.
• Any data sent over that connection is encrypted from beginning to end (only the client and server may encrypt and decrypt it).
• Your connection requests are routed through the VPN server when you visit a website.
• The website only sees the IP address of the VPN server because it receives requests from it.
• Anyone who attempts to search up your IP address will only get the server’s address.

A VPN is an excellent tool to secure your privacy in general. Furthermore, encrypting your traffic ensures that:

• Hackers won’t be able to monitor your data if your WiFi network is exposed.
• ISPs and surveillance organizations are unable to monitor your internet activities.
• ISPs can no longer limit your bandwidth usage.

Use a Proxy

A proxy server operates similarly to a VPN in that it intercepts and passes your web connection requests on your behalf. As a result, every website you visit will only see the IP address of the proxy server.

Proxy servers, unlike VPNs, do not provide strong encryption. They may not offer any at all at times, therefore, may not be super-efficient to protect yourself from IP Grabbing.

So, while concealing your IP address gives you some privacy, your traffic may not be secure. Additionally, if you utilize a free proxy controlled by a hostile actor, they may be able to log your data.

In general, you should only use a proxy if you need to access a web website that has been blocked. Use a VPN if you require additional security. Instead of purchasing separate services, try employing a VPN with dual-purpose servers.

Use Mobile Data

Switch from WiFi data to mobile data if you’re using your phone and want to change your IP address quickly.

You’ll obtain a different IP address because you’ll be using your mobile provider’s network instead of your WiFi network’s ISP.

But what if you only have a restricted mobile data plan and want to use WiFi?

In that situation, you can alter your IP address by switching WiFi networks.

 

Will Tor Hide My IP Address?

Your connections to the Internet will travel through a server, just like a VPN. As a result, the IP address of the Tor server you’re using will be visible to everyone.

However, we must tell you that Tor has had and continues to have IP leak issues:

• When you try to open Windows DRM files, Tor may reveal your IP address.
• Torrent clients have a tendency to reveal your IP address.
• Certain file types (such as PDFs) can escape proxy settings, exposing your IP address to Tor.

Aside from that, you’ll experience slow speeds due to the fact that there are only about 12,000 servers for over five million users.

 

IP Grabbing – Bottom Line

Not unless the person who obtains your IP address intends to use it for illicit purposes, such as DDoSing you or hacking your computer.

IP capturing (and tracking) is typically allowed for routine reasons. If you’re concerned about your privacy being violated, utilize a VPN to mask your IP address. It’s the simplest and most practical method. If you know of any additional ways to conceal your IP address (besides the ones we’ve previously discussed), please share them in the comments.