An IP address locates a machine rather than identifying who is sitting at that computer.

Treating IP addresses as personal information would have implications for criminal activity involving the information technology infrastructure. For some time experts in the field of internet privacy believe strongly that internet privacy does not exist. For legal issues its considered that online privacy should exist and generally be regarded as personal information. In a first opinion, it is important to note that unlike the US, under European Union law IP Addresses are considered to be personal data as defined by article 2(a) of Directive 95/46/EC " 'personal data' shall mean any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ('data subject'); an identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity; " There is no doubt IP addresses do in fact represent "data relating to an identifiable person" under the EU Data Protection Directive. In a second opinion, IP addresses are not always personal data, and they dont offer any information to an identified or identifiable natural person. Ip addresses are too far removed from and identifiable person to constitute personal data. In 2008, a German court issued a decision that private internet protocols, stored on a companys server do not constitute personal data. In the court's view, a string of numbers does not uncover the personal identity of an individual-- in order to do so, one would have to query the user's internet service provider (ISP) to detect the user's identity. The Article 29 Working Party, the committee of Europe's privacy guardians, has maintained the idea that IP addresses should be treated as personal data by ISPs and search engines, even if they are not always personal data. RIAA, Recording Industry Association of America, claimed that having the IP address of a computer that has shared unauthorized files is the equivalent of having the evidence of who was actually sharing files. The IP address can help to identify the individual who is paying the Internet access, and not the person who used the computer on a network. RIAA dropped multiple cases in the US, after pointing that the IP address of a computer that has shared unauthorized files is the equivalent of having the evidence of who was actually sharing files. The most popular ways used by individuals wishing to avoid the consequences of engaging in vicious, prohibited, non legal or socially unaccepted behavior online. DHCP protocol/ Dynamic IP address. - Due to the DHCP, many IP addresses applied to consumers don't reliably represent a single machine, and even when they map it, its the machines and not the person who is determined. Many IP addresses, particularly those allocated from DHCP to individuals, are 'dynamic'. This means that each time a user connects to their internet service provider (ISP), they are given an IP address, and this

will be different each time. In this case, if the ISP has a private individual profile assigned for the client, the individual remains anonymous on the internet and not for the ISP. In 2007 the UK's Information Commissioner issued a guidance which stated that in isolation, IP addresses will not be classed as personal data. They can become personal data, though, when used to build a profile on an individual or in the hands of an ISP. Its important to know that DHCP is not the only technology used to assigning dynamic IP addresses. Proxy servers / Anonymizers Sometimes called a web proxy, the anonymizing proxy server seeks to anonymize internet surfing, concealing the source computers identifying information. They are typically very difficult to track, making them very useable to those seeking online anonymity. Not all proxy servers all the identical, if the proxy is trusted, anonymity will be retained. A malicious proxy server can record everything sent to the proxy, including passwords and other personal data. The internet offers a huge selection of specialized software that can protect users who are seriously concerned about their IP address being distributed and individuals engaged in criminal activities online.