What Is an IP Address?

The full name for an IP address is an "Internet Protocol address." Its full name says a lot about how it
works; it's an address from which your computer sends and receives data.It's best to imagine IP
addresses like a street address for the internet. As humans, we remember names best, which is why our
streets are given names that we can easily remember. Computers, however, prefer to work in numbers,
and an IP address is their ideal way of getting around.

Every site, computer, and server on the internet has an IP address. When you want to load a website,
your computer sends a request to the website's IP address for its content. The website then sends its
content back to your PC using your computer's IP address.

This is very similar to sending a letter to someone. You need their address to send them a letter, and they
need yours to return the favor.

Things get a little different when you call in the aid of an IP lookup tool. These have the power to extract
information from the IP address and give you an estimate of where the user is.

In short, while people can definitely learn your country, ISP, and city from your IP address, they won't be
able to go so far as to learn your name, street, or house number.