Can IP address identify the computer's location?

[s***@gmail.com]

I have heard IP address can identify the computer's location. How? If
someone knows the IP address in my house's machine, then they know
where I live?

This is very unsafe. How to prevent the privacy threat?

Please advise. thanks!!

[Tauno Voipio]

Post by s***@gmail.com
I have heard IP address can identify the computer's location. How? If
someone knows the IP address in my house's machine, then they know
where I live?

Your ISP can be found by looking at the IP. Any further
examination requires their cooperation (which they should
not do, except for appropriate authorities).

[David C. DiNucci]

Post by s***@gmail.com
I have heard IP address can identify the computer's location. How? If
someone knows the IP address in my house's machine, then they know
where I live?
This is very unsafe. How to prevent the privacy threat?
Please advise. thanks!!

For an example, see http://www.geobytes.com/IpLocator.htm

It's certainly not foolproof. It is 90% certain that I am writing this
from some island, hundreds of miles from where I actually live. If only.

From geobytes' FAQ: "...the purpose of the Geobytes map is to map IP
Addresses to geographical locations. To achieve this we acquire seed
data from a number of sources. All of these sites ask the web surfer to
provide their geographic location, and this location along with the
user's IP Address is forwarded to us as seed data. We then run this data
through a series of algorithms which identify and extract collaborating
seed points."

-Dave

[Lew Pitcher]

Post by David C. DiNucci

Post by s***@gmail.com
I have heard IP address can identify the computer's location. How? If
someone knows the IP address in my house's machine, then they know
where I live?
This is very unsafe. How to prevent the privacy threat?
Please advise. thanks!!

For an example, see http://www.geobytes.com/IpLocator.htm
It's certainly not foolproof. It is 90% certain that I am writing this
from some island, hundreds of miles from where I actually live. If only.

And, this afternoon, it placed me about 60kM away from where I actually was.

- --
Lew Pitcher

Master Codewright & JOAT-in-training | GPG public key available on request
Registered Linux User #112576 (http://counter.li.org/)
Slackware - Because I know what I'm doing.

[Jim Diamond]

Post by Lew Pitcher

Post by David C. DiNucci

Post by s***@gmail.com
I have heard IP address can identify the computer's location. How? If
someone knows the IP address in my house's machine, then they know
where I live?
This is very unsafe. How to prevent the privacy threat?
Please advise. thanks!!

For an example, see http://www.geobytes.com/IpLocator.htm
It's certainly not foolproof. It is 90% certain that I am writing this
from some island, hundreds of miles from where I actually live. If only.

And, this afternoon, it placed me about 60kM away from where I actually was.

So Lew, did you have to walk all that way back?

Jim

[Jim]

Post by s***@gmail.com
I have heard IP address can identify the computer's location. How? If
someone knows the IP address in my house's machine, then they know
where I live?

No. The IP address may indicate the name of the ISP because it has a
reserved block of numbers. Only the IP knows your mailing address, and your
computer may not be located there.

Post by s***@gmail.com
This is very unsafe. How to prevent the privacy threat?

Well, it would be unsafe if it were true. As it is very difficult to
determine your mailing address from the ISPs, you are worrying about next to
nothing.
You should be aware that it is possible to determine your address merely
from your telepnone number. This has been the case for well over 60 years.

Post by s***@gmail.com
Please advise. thanks!!

Jim

[Michael Heiming]

Post by s***@gmail.com
I have heard IP address can identify the computer's location. How? If
someone knows the IP address in my house's machine, then they know
where I live?

Barley, the country might be possible, but say you live in the
US, that's a large country.

Post by s***@gmail.com
This is very unsafe. How to prevent the privacy threat?

There are far more dangers then somebody knowing the country you
are located on the internet. Use a firewall, keep your system
updated, don't use malware prone to give you trouble like Outcrap
+ IE.

Good luck

[Unruh]

Post by s***@gmail.com
I have heard IP address can identify the computer's location. How? If
someone knows the IP address in my house's machine, then they know
where I live?
This is very unsafe. How to prevent the privacy threat?
Please advise. thanks!!

A lesson in routing. The system has to know how to deliver any packet to an
address. It looks up the address, and either discovers it knows where to
send the packet-- on a local ethernet--- or it sends it on to someone else
(default) This goes on till the packet gets to someone who knowns where to
send the packet. That means that they have to be on the ethernet loop as
the machine. So, the final hop must be connected by a wire to the machine.
The people who wired up the system will know where the wires go to. Anyone
further up the chain will know whom to send the packet to .

Thus if you look up my address using whois, you will discover that it is
the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. There are about 10,000
computers there. UBC will then know to send the packet to the physics
router. The physics router will know to send it to the research network,
which will be connected by wire to me. The administrator in physics will
know where that particular wire terminates.

So, teh IP address will in general easily give the generic location (UBC)
and then from there you would have to ask UBC where I was.

Ie, there is obviously a direct one to one mapping from the address to your
machine. But, that mapping is divided into parts.

[Lars]

YES

As long as the ISP that owns the IPAddress gives it out. For example there
was a person in Sweden who sold porn on the Internet and put the money in a
bank outside of EU where no taxdeparment could reach the money or even know
about the money. The person used International web sites that couldn't be
tracked to the person. However the person made the mistake to send our
emails to the users and that was through the emails the tax department could
find out that he had withold about $900.000 for the tax department, He had
to pay the tax for all the money and also had to spend 2 years in jail as I
recall the story.


Lars

Post by Unruh

Post by s***@gmail.com
I have heard IP address can identify the computer's location. How? If
someone knows the IP address in my house's machine, then they know
where I live?
This is very unsafe. How to prevent the privacy threat?
Please advise. thanks!!

A lesson in routing. The system has to know how to deliver any packet to an
address. It looks up the address, and either discovers it knows where to
send the packet-- on a local ethernet--- or it sends it on to someone else
(default) This goes on till the packet gets to someone who knowns where to
send the packet. That means that they have to be on the ethernet loop as
the machine. So, the final hop must be connected by a wire to the machine.
The people who wired up the system will know where the wires go to. Anyone
further up the chain will know whom to send the packet to .
Thus if you look up my address using whois, you will discover that it is
the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. There are about 10,000
computers there. UBC will then know to send the packet to the physics
router. The physics router will know to send it to the research network,
which will be connected by wire to me. The administrator in physics will
know where that particular wire terminates.
So, teh IP address will in general easily give the generic location (UBC)
and then from there you would have to ask UBC where I was.
Ie, there is obviously a direct one to one mapping from the address to your
machine. But, that mapping is divided into parts.