If you landed on this article, then you have probably heard that your IP address can be used to reveal your location. This is only partially true. Your IP address will generally only reveal your approximate location. Even then “approximate” is a relevant term as the degree of accuracy will vary.
How is IP address’s geolocation determined?
The location of our IP addresses mostly comes down to a best guess of the approximate area of where the IP address is likely to be used.
The IP address location information is obtained from an IP address to location database. There are several of these databases, or registries which vary in accuracy.
When someone, or in most cases a website or online service, wants to obtain your location information of your IP address, they will pull the information from one of these databases.
It is not uncommon for websites and online service to use the location information for advertising purposes, or to implement geo-blocking.
The Whois database is the most frequently used database for IP address location and other information associated with an IP address. This database keeps record of ownership of IP address, which are mostly internet service providers.
Not all location services make use of the same database.
You can test this by “googling” “What is my IP location”, or simply “What is my IP”. It will bring up a selection of location services to choose from. By trying a few of these, you will likely find that not all give the same location and that the results vary in accuracy.
IP addresses are allocated to Internet Service providers, who in turn allocate them to their customers. The location result of your IP address will most likely be the location of the data center of your internet service provider closest to you.
IP addresses are allocated to internet service providers in blocks per regions. Internet service providers will then usually allocate these IP addresses per regions within their networks.
This means that when your device moves or travels to a different region within your internet service provider’s service areas, that a different IP address will likely be allocated to your device.
Hide your IP location
There are ways to mask your location. VPN services are commonly used to do this. When you use VPN, the visible IP address on the internet will be that of the VPN service provider. By using a VPN service, you can even “change your location” to a different country if you choose to do so.
You can read more about this in our article: How does a VPN Connection work