How to geographically locate an IP Address
IP addresses are unique and traceable just like caller id can trace
a phone number's origin. IP addresses are assigned
in blocks to ISP (Internet Service Providers) through the local
IP numbering registry for the region they operate in. For those
in the United States, The American Registry
for Internet Numbers is responsible for providing IP addresses to ISPs.
It is possible to geographically locate any PC or server simply by it's IP
address - at least in theory. One Problem is that IP address ranges are
administered by several hundred regional institutions, and it would not be
very practical to query each of them directly. Fortunately some companies
have specialized in collecting IP Address range information from all
over the world and sell this information in the form of consolidated
databases that are easily integrated into any application of web site.
IP address geomapping is very accurate by today's standards, nearly 98%
accurate across the globe (depending ho accurate you need to be based on
country, region, city or ISP information.
Many web servers use geolocation technology with IP addresses
in order to display content automatically in the visitor's local language.
Web sites such as Google, Yahoo and many more use your ip address to
determine your country and region of origin to target
search results and content local to you. Other web sites use this
technology for marketing purposes (Digital Envoy, Akamai, ValueClick,
Quova) to target advertisements. Others such as China use IP addresses
for censorship screening. Today's most popular online shops use some form
of geolocation screening on orders to help prevent fraud.
Geolocation technology is highly controversial and completely
contradictory to the vision of the internet as a global village. Privacy
advocates warn that your IP address can be used to track
your web surfing habits, political views, and even what type of
music you may of downloaded this week. Recent events with google turning
over all 2006 search data and search word requests to the US government
based on the US government's request to see 'all search data in order to
protect minors' has left privacy activists wondering just how closely IP
geolocation technology can permit the government and others to see what you
are doing online.
To avoid having your IP address used to track your online
usage a number of anonymous web
surfing services
have arrived such as SurfAgain.com.
The anonymous web surfing services
provide
a buffer between you and the Internet, allowing you to surf the internet
without leaving any digital finger prints such as your geolocation to remote
web servers or search engines to later be audited by the US government
Soon the technical feasibility of geological IP address location will be
fully realized outside the internet community and people will inevitably call
for legal action. Privacy advocates already warn of the abuse of commercial
and government agencies using Geolocation - and the next logical step will
be government censorship and monitoring. Every paper-based publication is,
and always has been, subject to local law and regulations of all sorts. The
only barrier against extending these regulations to internet publications
has been the global nature of the internet and the impossibility to localize
it. With Geolocation technology this may change soon and place a significant
burden on web masters and online merchants to play 'online cop' to the
web surfing community.
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