An IP address is a unique number attributed to all your online activity. It's an identifier that helps the system tell your device apart from the billions of devices on the internet.

Your IP address is how you get all your personal information (chats, VoIP calls, emails, etc.) sent directly to your device, whether you're on your mobile phone, laptop, or office computer.

Every device has a unique IP address. But how are these IP addresses assigned? Who gets to choose what address goes to your device? Your Internet Service Provider does.

IP addresses are managed globally by a body known as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) via five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) who allocate blocks of IP addresses to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Your ISP assigns an IP address to your device.

While there isn't much the average curious person can find out about your online activity through your IP address, your personal information isn’t entirely safe from websites you visit.

If you were to send an email from your home or office, a person with savvy internet skills (e.g. a hacker) and the right tools can use your exposed IP address to find out (with good accuracy) the approximate location it was sent from.

Moreover, your personal information can be tracked by third parties like your ISP, advertisers, hackers and even government agencies.

In the case of cybercrime, law enforcement authorities might obtain a subpoena to enable them to track a user through their IP address.

In that instance, they can take that IP address to the ISP to get more information about the user like legal name and home address.

One of the best ways to ensure your online anonymity is by using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN is great because it gives an added layer of protection to your IP address. Many people use VPNs to maintain online anonymity.