| IP addresses can be geolocated. Big deal. This article seems a little out of date when it comes to what an IP address means for home users. (For mobile users, there are far easier means of tracking than via IP address.) For instance....
"One important thing to note is that most consumers probably have a “dynamic ip address” meaning that your internet service provider probably rotates this ip address ever 24-48 hours. Your internet service provider usually charges more money for static ip addresses which is where you keep the same ip forever." Really? Mine hasn't changes in over a year. My ISP could change it, but absent any reason to do so they don't bother. Once upon a time they would assign new IPs when boxes turned off and on, but security measures these days mean neighbourhoods are assigned small pools of IPs. Turn off and on and you will more often than not be assigned the same IP. Besides, nobody turns off cable/DSL modems anymore anyway. Truly dynamic IP's disappeared with dialup. And...
"So each and every web request I make to any website, can find out my city, state, zip code, internet service provider, time zone, average city income, average population, and if I’m residential." Nope. Mine is always wrong. All the geolocation services place my IP in the wrong city. That's because my area is served by boxes one town over. So all the info gathered via my IP address beyond which state/province I'm in would be incorrect. These online IP databases are not the same as actually phoning an IP for a street address. They are at best a good guess. |