IP Address Scare?

Question

Hi ,

I have a youtube account , and this one person said that they know their way around youtube and all.. now my question is...

How can people get my IP address.. from youtube of anywhere?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Your IP Address is public and anybody can obtain it. There is no reason for it to scare you. This is how it works:

Every single website and computer on the Internet has to have a public address in order to access other networks and websites. IP Addressing is how we accomplish this. However, because trying to remember all these numbers is so difficult, we have instead common and easy to remember alphbetical names, such as http://wwwhowstuffworks.com, but this site actually has an IP address which is used to pass packets to and from the site such as 162.13.12.02, and then the protocol NAS "translates" these numbers into the words for the sites name. So, every site has two names, the numerical one and the alphebetical one.

Your computer has only a numerical address. This is public and how websites know who visits their sites. This is also how sites place innocent cookies which can contain as little information as your IP address and the fact you visited. Then it can contain your User ID and Password for any given site.

For example: when sign up for a email account you are given a user ID and a password to access this account. Your cookie will hold this information.

Cookies are normally unubstrusive small files which are harmless. However, some websites use cookies to track your website browsing habits. These websites cookies are considered spyware, and a spyware program will elimate them from your system without you having to worry about them.

Your browser also has levels which manage your cookies. You can set your browser to refuse all cookies, but if you do your browser may not work well with sites you have registered with. For example: When yo shop Online and use a Shopping Cart, it is actually a small cookie on your hard dive. You can set your browser to only accept "session cookies" and to delete them automatically when your shopping is finished. Of you can allow trusted sites to store cookies indefinantly on your hard drive, such as Yahoo! or MSN, or other trusted sites you visit daily or use an account with.

So, don't worry about this so much, it isn't a big deal. If you use a Spyware program such as Spybot you can rest assured your system is safe from Spyware cookies.

You can read more about cookies and spyware at the Microsoft Help and Support center or the Microsoft Home site. There is a ton of information on sites such as this to help you understand what this and other issues related to your computer and browsing is all about.

Good luck and have a great day.

Answer 2

You can actually find a persons IP address from many ways including email, it's basically like a telephone number they can contact you only if you contacted them first, such as visiting their site, email, or an online game, ect my suggestion would be getting a good firewall to avoid hacking, or use a wireless connection at different IP locations if you have a lab top.

Answer 3

im not familiar with that, but my guess is that if you post a video on youtube, that might give them the ip.
Either way, is not bad, getting someones IP address is easy.
so as long as you are protected with a FIREWALL you should be good to go. :)

Answer 4

I've been wondering that too. Sometimes I'll see in someone's signature line "your ip address is this and you are using this". Its weird.