Before we can talk about faking an IP address, we need to know what an IP address is and how it is used. An IP Address is an unique address assigned to a computing devices such as a computer, tablet or smartphone. An IP address is analogues to postal address of a house (or phone number of your smartphone), where two houses cannot have the same address as a mailman will be confused where to deliver the mail. Similarly, an IP address must be unique within the globe so that a message can be delivered to an intended device.

Since an IP address is unique and trackable, anything you do on the Internet with your device can be tracked. The websites you visited, social media activities, your approximate location, type of computer (or device) you use and a whole lot more. When you visit a website, many sites store cookie on your computer or smartphone to track your activities, and identify you next time you connect the same site.

Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) assigns you an IP address when you connect to the Internet, and this address is open for others to see and track you. If you do not wish to reveal your IP address, you may have to fake your IP address by obtaining a "pseudo" IP from a secondary entity such as a VPN provider, Proxy or any other provider so that your "real" IP is hidden behind the network.

Am I risking my privacy when someone finds my IP Address?

If someone knows your phone number, they can call you or send messages and chances are you'll get a ring every time someone call or message you. If someone knows your IP Address, they can send message whether you like it or not and there is no easy way to block it. Am I risking my privacy? Probably not. Do I have to worry that my IP address is not protected? No. It's a public information, and with a little bit of effort anyone can find your IP address. Many online community make you feel unsecure, and steer you to hide ip address by purchasing either a VPN or Proxy service. Having a VPN is nice but there isn't much anyone can do to invade your privacy by knowing your IP Address. You can always change ip address with a little bit of effort, so there aren't too much to worry about.

Can someone track my online activity by knowing my IP Address?

The only entity that can track your activity is the one who provided you the IP Address you use, most likely your ISP. If you have a VPN, your VPN provider will grant you a new IP address and they will be the only one who will know your online activities as they're the ones providing Internet traffic to your door. No one else will be able to track your online activity unless they install Trojan (malware) on your computing device. Your ISP or VPN provider will not share your online activity with anyone unless the government issues an warrant. You just have to protect your computer from virus or malware, and no one will be able to track your online activities.

How do you fake your IP Address?

Having to explain consequences of revealing your IP Address, you need not worry too much about your privacy or anonymity. However, there are still reasons you may want to fake your IP Address. Working around IP Ban, Internet Censorship, and becoming a victim of DDoS may be a few reasons why you may want to fake or change IP address. Here are a few ways to fake your IP address.

Conclusion

Your IP Address is a public information anyone can find. You don't need to worry too much about your privacy if you let someone else find your IP address. Privacy invasion come from Viruses and Malware, not your IP Address. There are reasons when you may want to fake your IP address as described above, faking or changing your IP address is not too hard. Just follow the instruction above to fake your IP address, and be sure to protect your computer from computer viruses and malware more than anything else.