When you connect to the Internet, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) assigns you an IP address. When you surf the web, view emails or download a movie from the Internet, your activity can be tracked with your IP address. An IP address can be used to locate a person (although not precisely without a warrant), and trace the Internet activity. To surf anonymously and protect your privacy, you'll need to hide your real IP address.

1. Hide your IP address with a VPN
Virtual Private Network (VPN) offers a connectivity to another network, and when connected your computer receives a new IP address from a VPN provider. Every traffic from your computer routes through the VPN network, so your true IP address assigned by your ISP is hidden. Aside from hiding your IP address, using VPN allows you to access any network even though your network may be geo-restricted. They help you get on the Internet with a different IP address than the one provided by your ISP.

Here are a few VPN providers we recommend:
Hide My Ass (Winter Special, 30 Day Money Back Guarantee)
Vypr VPN (Free Trial or 30 Day Money Back Guarantee)
Express VPN (30 Day Money Back Guarantee)
Pure VPN (7 Day Money Back Guarantee)
For full comparison and company reviews, please visit VPN Comparison page.

2. Mask your IP address with Proxies
There are thousands of free web proxy servers that you can use to hide your IP address and surf anonymously. Browsing through a proxy means that you are not accessing a website directly, but going through a intermediate "proxy" which relays the information back and forth between you and the destination website.

3. Use the Tor Browser
Tor BrowserTor is a free software program that uses a distributed network of relays to communicate anonymously. Tor Browser is a free browser similar to IE, Chrome and Firefox that lets you use Tor network to browse anonymously without revealing your own IP Address. You will have to download and install a version of Tor browser that is compatible with your operating system (i.e. Windows, Mac OS and Linux).

Since Tor uses a network of distributed relays, the performance of Tor Browser is much slower than the native browsers that connects directly to the Internet.

4. Use someone else's network[b][/b][color=#990000][/color]
Alternatively, you may use free Wi-Fi services offered by a coffee shop, hotel or any public locations. An IP address does not travel with your computer, but they are rather assigned by the router colocated in the area you are in. To find your public IP address, try What is My IP.

If you have any questions about hiding IP address, please post your question on Hide and Change IP Address Forum.

Why would you hide your IP address?
You may have your very own reasons for hiding your IP address, but here are a few popular reasons why people would want to hide their public IP address.

Hide your identity from your competitors - You may be commenting on your or competitor's products on various forums, and using your IP address will reveal your identity.
Hide your geographical location - Certain networks prevent users from a specific geographical location, and use of proxy IP address will circumbent this problem.
Prevent Website Tracking - Every website or webpage you visited is tracked by the server hosted by the website owner. By hiding your IP address, your web visits cannot be tracked.
Work around Internet Censorship - Some countries like China implements strict Internet Censorship for a variety of laws and regulations. By hiding your IP address and obtaining a new IP address from a different geolocation, you may bypass Internet Censorship and unblock websites such as Google, YouTube and Facebook which otherwise blocked.
Protect your identity
If you navigate on the Internet with your IP address, your privacy and sensitive information about you can be monitored. With an IP address, your location, your ISP and your privacy or security can be breached. There are full of suspicious people on the Internet, and you need to protect your identity by hiding your IP address and use someone else's instead. There are many tools available to mask your IP address (free and paid), and use 3rd-party IP addresses offered by public companies.

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