An IP address is a numerical label assigned to a device connected to a network, commonly used in analytics to approximate a visitor’s geographic location or to help distinguish unique visitors. Because IP addresses can be considered personal data, many privacy-first analytics tools anonymize or avoid storing them.

Examples

• A visitor’s IP address is used to estimate their country for a geographic traffic breakdown.

• An analytics tool truncates or hashes IP addresses to reduce privacy risk.

• A team uses IP address patterns, alongside other signals, to help filter out bot traffic.

FAQs

Is an IP address personal data?

It can be, especially when combined with other data that could identify an individual, and is treated as such under regulations like GDPR.

How is IP address used in fraud detection?

Unusual patterns, like many accounts sharing one IP, can be a signal used alongside other heuristics for bot or Sybil detection.

Does Formo store raw IP addresses?

Formo prioritizes privacy-first tracking, minimizing reliance on IP address collection where possible.