Have you ever wondered how companies track your online behavior? How they know which sites you visit and ads you click on? The answer lies in your IP address.
Your IP address is like an identification number assigned to your device. It gives away your location and identity.
Luckily, there are easy ways to hide your IP address and browse the web privately.
What Is an IP Address?
An IP address is a unique number given to each device connected to the internet. It allows sending and receiving data between devices.
Public IP addresses can be tracked back to your city, street address and internet service provider.
Private IP addresses are used on local networks. Not trackable over the internet.
Why Hide Your IP Address?
- Stop companies tracking your online activity.
- Prevent identity theft by hiding your location.
- Access blocked content not available in your country.
- Enhance security against hackers and malware.
Hiding Your IP Address on WhatsApp Calls for Added Layer of Privacy Protection and Security
WhatsApp has introduced a new privacy and security feature that allows you to hide your IP address during voice and video calls. This prevents the person you are calling from seeing your IP address, which can reveal your approximate location and identity.
Enabling this feature routes all your WhatsApp calls through WhatsApp’s servers instead of directly peer-to-peer between devices. This adds a layer of protection to keep your IP address private.
Here are the detailed steps to enable hiding your IP address on WhatsApp calls:
How to Enable the Enhance Security Feature on your Android Phone:
- Open the WhatsApp app on your Android phone.
- Tap on the 3-dot menu icon in the top right.
- Select Settings from the menu.
- In Settings, tap on ‘Account’.
- Next, tap on ‘Privacy’ under the Account settings.
- Scroll down and look for the ‘Hide IP Address’ option.
- Tap on the toggle switch next to ‘Hide IP Address’ to enable it.
- The toggle will turn green when enabled.
This will route all future outgoing and incoming WhatsApp calls through WhatsApp’s servers instead of establishing a direct peer-to-peer connection between devices.
To verify it’s enabled, you can make a WhatsApp call to a friend and ask them to check your IP address during the call. They should not see your actual public IP address.
How to Activate and Use the IP Address Protection to Hide Location on an iPhone:
- Launch the WhatsApp app on your iPhone.
- Tap on the Settings tab at the bottom right.
- Select the Account option in Settings.
- Scroll down and tap on ‘Privacy’ under Account settings.
- Look for the ‘Hide IP Address’ option and tap on it.
- Toggle the ‘Hide IP Address’ switch ON.
- The toggle will turn green when enabled.
- Exit Settings and force close the WhatsApp app.
- Relaunch WhatsApp for the changes to take effect.
Similar to Android, this will relay your calls through WhatsApp’s servers to conceal your IP address from the recipients.
To confirm it’s working, you can make a test WhatsApp call to a friend after enabling it and ask them to check if your IP is visible during the call. They should not see your actual public IP address.
