IP Hiding is an Outdated Threat Model
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The concept of merely hiding IP addresses is considered outdated, belonging to the threat model of the 1990s. Modern privacy threats extend beyond IP address exposure.
Beyond IP Hiding[edit]
Hiding your identity is harder than just hiding your IP.
Hiding IP addresses is an important necessity but concealing one's identity requires more than just obscuring IP addresses. Simple IP address anonymization is insufficient because contemporary adversaries employ a variety of Data Collection Techniques such as browser fingerprinting that circumvent the need for IP addresses. This is evidenced by various Browser Tests, such as the Fingerprint.com Demo
, which illustrates that, as mentioned in "12% of the top 500 websites use Fingerprint.com's services".
This is a fact that also some VPN providers such as Mullvad are acknowledging.
When you visit a website, you can be identified and tracked through your IP address, third-party cookies, all kinds of tracking scripts, and through so called browser fingerprints. That’s why masking your IP address is not enough to stop the data collection.
To ensure user anonymity, Whonix provides Reliable IP Hiding as well as Full Spectrum Anti-Tracking Protection and is significantly safer than VPNs, as detailed in the thorough Whonix versus VPNs comparison.
Footnotes[edit]
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