Info from IP address

I am wondering what info someone can obtain about an individual if they know your IP address. I surfed around looking for info and it appears that they can tell your IP and your geographic location (how specific, who knows?). I'm assuming that institutional IPs are easy to trace, but someone within that institutuon?

The reason I ask is this. And it may be some kind of spoof or gag, but I thought I'd check. I was on a forum and there was some heated debate between two posters, it got nasty, you can imagine how it goes ... anyway, one poster said he had traced from his IP address his personal info and then posted the other chaps address openly on the forum. Normally, I would just have taken it as some silly wind up, but the reaction from the second chap made me think there was some credibility about the info that had been posted. Neither were forum moderators, so no priviledged access to posters info.

Was this a silly wind up game or is this possible (by perhaps piecing other info from other postings the chap had made - people can still let on an awful lot one way and another I think - to narrow things down? ).

When I was with AAISP, this site was able to show my address fairly accurately. That is not the case any more, but I suspect it is just because I have not shared my address with a company selling my details along with my IP.

Your IP address CAN identify you to within a few centimetres. Google collected this information as they monitored wireless APs during their Google photographing,

Well, there can't be much info out they about me.

I've got a static IP & domain name, which should make easy to find, but that site puts me 100 miles from my true location, which suits me fine.

It gave a most bizarre location for my IP address, so that's good.

Can you tell me if this is used for a particular reason and who has access to that info?

In reply to a post by 12eason:

When I was with AAISP, this site was able to show my address fairly accurately. That is not the case any more, but I suspect it is just because I have not shared my address with a company selling my details along with my IP.

Rofl. "Organisation:Swindon Town FC". Yup, that's right. That well known multi-national computer security corporation with a multi-billion dollar turnover. I'm over fifty miles from Swindon. Gawd only knows where it gets that from. Speedtest.net is better - at least it identifies us as a WAN even if it does think we're an ISP and based in London.

Edited by Andrue (Mon 14-Nov-11 15:32:05)

In reply to a post by Fens:

It gave a most bizarre location for my IP address, so that's good.

I can think of various possible strategies to use but it's anyone's guess which would work. If the individual has their own domain then you might be able to get the address from the registrar but private individuals can choose not to show that.

It's going to be very hit and miss and for the average punter sitting at home on their laptop I'd say more miss than hit.

I suspect that your IP block my have previously been allocated to said organisation. and the WHOIS hasn't been updated / removed. I have several like that from different providers around teh world.

If you give Google your mobile no (and they prompt pretty hard for it if you use Gmail) they will locate you via your phone and use this to pump location-specific adverts at you. It seems their photocars also picked up some info from wi-fi as another poster mentions. My IP resolves to Edinburgh, some 150 miles away.

As usual, pse note I'm no techie. But I did opt out from all Google info, I did not cross-register with Youtube etc as one must do nowadays, and after opting out the 'localised' ads stopped. So I no longer get invited to meet gorgeous girls in my own town. Mind you, Google doesn't have my birthday either, or they would know that I'm past interest in such matters