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I've been seeing this in pop-up ads, too. The word "broadcast" is kind of
misleading. Imagine that... a pop-up ad that's misleading. Who woulda
thunk? ; )
Anyway, you aren't really broadcasting your IP address. It's not like
anyone anywhere on the Internet could just listen in to your broadcasted
signal. That's what a broadcast would do, and the Internet doesn't work
that way.
However, there is a small grain of truth there. When you surf the Web,
anyone on a LAN between your browser and the Web server can see your IP
address and where you are surfing. That means, anyone on your LAN, anyone
at your ISP on the path of the packets, anyone at any other downstream ISP
where the packets travel, and anyone at the Web site you are surfing to
can look at your IP address and your surfing habits. So, while it's not
broadcasting, the potential is there for some people to look at your
address.
What can you do to stop this? First off, don't click on any annoying pop-up ad offering a solution. If you are surfing to sites and really need
your anonymity and privacy, you may consider using a service like
Anonymizer. Surf to www.anonymizer.com. There, you can access all other
Web sites. Everything identifying you, including your IP address, is
stripped off at Anonymizer. They have a free service, which is very slow. Alternatively, they have a pay service that is much quicker.
For more information on this topic, visit these other SearchSecurity.com resources:
Web Security Tip: One cookie too many
Strom's Security Tool Shed: Anonymous Web surfing for the paranoid
Executive Security Briefing: Enterprise privacy issues
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