09.04
The short answer is no. There are many ways for others to obtain your US IP address. Companies exist that provide IP address look up and tracing. Some websites provide instructions for looking up IPs. Should you feel good about this? Once again, the answer is no. There are many reasons for wanting to obtain this information, some legitimate and some not, but unless it is a legal investigation, should anyone be able to obtain that information?
These days, privacy is at a premium and your US IP address should be no different than any other piece of identification that you own. Identity theft is a real danger, especially with our vast exposure to the information super highway. How many times in a week do you fill out internet forms that include your name, address and a whole host of other information? How many unsolicited junk emails do you receive each week?
The truth is that the information obtained from your US IP address is limited to your geographic location, possibly as close as the city where your computer resides. It seems that the major problem is that some people are capable of taking that address and using it for their own purposes. So guard yourself, get a VPN (virtual private network) to keep your IP address and other private information safe.
