An IP address is a string of numbers that are mathematically produced and allocated by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, and it allows information to be exchanged between devices on a network. It’s similar to your billing address as it bears your location data and also provides an address for the delivery of requested data.

Knowing your IP address is an easy process as you can just search for it on google. Most likely you’ll see a string of numbers like this:

121.199.232.003

That’s an IP address under IPv4. If you are using IPv6, you are likely going to see:

2001:0dy9:02ny:003e:y770:63hh:00qo:8iw3

Hide Your Internet Activity from Your ISP

Your ISP can also track your internet activity and so, you have reduced privacy as you go about your internet surfing. Overall, it’s better to prevent your data from being at the mercy of a group of people because they too may sell your data to third parties. This can be taken care of by hiding your IP address so that your ISP can’t keep tabs on you any longer.

Bypass Geo Blocks

Many video streaming websites restrict the view of their content to some countries only. And so if you need to watch your favorite show and it's only showing on Netflix for example, you won’t be able to gain access if you are in a country where Netflix isn’t available.

Also, the available content from these services isn’t the same around the world. And so what you may be watching may be different from what someone else in another country is watching. So to get the full package, you will need to change your IP so you can access every video from various locations.

Stop Ad Networks from Tracking Your Activities

Many companies track your online activities so that they can serve you ads based on what they think your preferences are. This is known as targeted marketing and it's very convenient for some people, but not everyone is okay with being bombarded with ads.

If you don’t like the idea of ads bombarding you, or of a website you visit tracking you, hide your IP address using a proxy or VPN so that you can do whatever you want anonymously.

Avoid Government Surveillance

Many countries have a tight leash on their citizens when it comes to internet use. Even if you are not breaking any rules, it’s an invasion of privacy to have someone spy on your every act. It can make you uneasy and a way to overcome this is by hiding your IP address. This way, whatever you do won’t be linked to you and you can browse the web anonymously.

Web Scraping

In web scraping, there are high chances of your IP address getting blocked, or recognized as a competitor and fed with false data. Either of these will defeat the purpose of web scraping which is to get accurate data successfully. And so to ensure that you get the data you need, you need to have other IP options.

Using a proxy will ensure that you get the data you need, and an example of a premium proxy service that promises the best performance consistently is Limeproxies. Pairing their proxies with an IP rotator reduces your chances of getting blocked and you can scrape continuously.

Interesting Read : How Business Development Executives Can Access Blocked Websites?

Use A Proxy

A proxy acts as an intermediary server between you and the web. So when you send requests, it first goes to the proxy server where details about the request are changed including the IP address, before it gets to the web.

So websites and apps see the IP address of the proxy server and communicate with it, not your real IP.

A good proxy service would properly hide your IP address, and give you a high-speed connection too so you don’t suffer because of this bias. An example of a good proxy service is Limeproxies.

Use A VPN

A VPN functions to encrypt your data before it is sent to the web, and it also hides your IP address as it sends requests on your behalf using the server you choose. So the websites or apps you are accessing won’t see your real IP address but that of the VPN.

As you have seen, a VPN offers more than just anonymity but also security. These features are offered by every VPN service provider, but the quality isn’t the same. For the best security and privacy, use LimeVPN.

Use TOR

Tor is a decentralized anonymity network that is operated by thousands of volunteers. It encrypts your traffic and routes it through random server nodes that serve as proxy servers. So imagine sending your request through a series of proxy servers. The website you access only sees the IP address of the last node and it's random and backtracking is futile.

Change Networks

Changing networks also changes your IP address and is another way to ensure that your IP address stays clean if you feel it has been compromised.

Use A NAT Firewall

You are likely behind a NAT Firewall if you are using a wireless router to connect to the internet. A NAT firewall allows multiple devices on the same network to share the same IP address. The private IP address however remains unique. Requests are sent to websites from the public IP address and so, your private IP address stays safe.