What is my IP address?

IP stands for Internet Protocol.
It is the communication protocol used by the Internet.
It is the technical protocol of computer networks allowing the exchange of data packets between devices with a single address.
There are two versions of this protocol, IPv4 and IPv6.
IPv4 addresses are of the form xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
IPv6 addresses are of the form xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx
IPv6 addresses appeared because the availability of IPv4 addresses was running out.
IPv6 addressing is logically much less limited.

An IP address allows the various so-called "connected" electronic devices, via wifi, ethernet cable, bluetooth, 4G, 5G, etc., to be linked to a computer network.
IP addresses thus allow servers, desktop computers, tablets or telephones to communicate with each other.
Thus, the network used, whether private or public, provides any device connected to it with a unique IP address allowing data to be exchanged with other devices on the network.
In the case of Internet access, it is the Internet service provider (ISP), fiber, adsl, gsm, which defines the IP address which will identify the user on the network.
A computer, tablet or smartphone, once connected to the Internet, allows exchanges with the latter and therefore the display of the content of Internet sites.
As you will have understood, without an IP address, it is not possible to connect to a network, whatever it may be.

Your IP address allows you to browse the Internet, it is essential.
Ranges of IP addresses are allocated to the different operators and thus make it possible to know that such user, having such IP address, provided to such Internet access provider, is located at such place.
Thus, you are geolocated on the Internet and when you browse, it is possible for the services you use to offer, for example, advertisements related to your geographical location.
Users are therefore visible and traceable on the Internet according to their IP address.
You probably use mapping or driving directions services? These services use your IP address to determine your location.
Likewise, your IP address is used by weather services to determine the corresponding local weather.
Your IP address can also be blacklisted by a service on the Internet, if this same service has noticed that actions deemed harmful were carried out by you.
Also, your IP address can allow the police services to be traced back to the end user, via the intermediary of Internet service providers.

You may have noticed that your IP address was geolocated in a city, department or region, which does not correspond to where you are currently connected.
The geolocation of an IP address is sometimes approximate and can therefore generate inconsistent results.
For example, the ranges of IP addresses provided on GSM networks are sometimes geolocated to other places by technical necessity.

Since an IP address is required to connect to the Internet, it is impossible to hide an IP address.
However, there are services, called VPN, which allow you to be visible on the Internet from another IP address, which therefore will not allow anyone to locate the user directly.
By subscribing to a VPN service, it provides its own Internet connection configuration parameters.
Thus, instead of being connected to the Internet directly by the IP address provided by the ISP access provider, the user is connected to the Internet by the IP address provided by the VPN service.
With a VPN and according to these functionalities, the user can, for example, be located anywhere in the world and thus browse "anonymously" on the Internet.
Depending on the VPNs and the regulations in force in the country where the service is hosted, the retention of your connection data may be limited or even non-existent.