Why is the IP address of our computers posted in hubs comments?

1. 71

   brakel2posted 13 years ago

   I just noticed this. Is it new or has it always been there? What would be the reason for this posting?

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      kmackey32posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hmmmm. I must of missed that one....lol

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      simeonvisserposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      This happens on practically every website on the internet but only admins can see it. Every forum post or contribution you make is usually stored together with your IP address, just to find the IP addresses that are causing trouble.

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      kschangposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Only on the hubs YOU own. Nobody else sees it.

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         brakel2posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Maybe it does not always show up, as this was the first time I noticed it. At least, only the writer can see it. Thanks for the info, everyone.

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2. 0

   Website Examinerposted 13 years ago

   That is nothing new. IP addresses are recorded as a way of discouraging spam and abuse. So once someone has left a comment, you can do a reverse IP lookup and see their approximate location and more. HP can also block certain IP addresses.
   
   Only you can see the IP addresses on your hubs.

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      ssaulposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      sometimes its scary to know one IP address is out there for everyone to see

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         Website Examinerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         True, although it cannot identify you individually. As far as privacy policies, IP addresses tend not to be treated as personal information.

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3. 58

   darksideposted 13 years ago

   It's a feature that's been available on HubPages for a couple of years now.
   
   As mentioned, no one else can see it on the hub, except for the author.
   
   It allows you to see if people posting without being logged in, or under different aliases are in fact the same person.

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      BuffyGirlposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      is this a bug that i'm seeing other people's IP addresses if they post a comment to me and does that mean people see mine when i post on their hubs?  if this is isn't a bug i won't want to post on anyone's hubs anymore. ((((

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         BuffyGirlposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         shouldn't this just be visible to Hubpages admins?

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            relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            It's visible to the Hub author so that if someone is spamming or harassing the author via multiple identities, they can tell and then report that user.  There's no way that the admins could monitor every comment on every Hub.

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   LeanManposted 11 years ago

   I will often get abusive comments from people on my hubs about Saudi Arabia (many of which I publish if they are not outright rude or contain foul language). They will often follow up from the same IP address supporting themselves as supposedly someone else! Having the IP address lets you see the games that some commenters play!

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5. 67

   2uesdayposted 11 years ago

   As far as I can recall a comment left on a hub has always displayed the IP address to the hub writer. I have been on HubPages for 3 years and have always wondered if that was a good or bad idea. I cannot say that I have noticed it elsewhere on the sites I visit.

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   Dale Hydeposted 11 years ago

   As mentioned numerous times in this thread, only you, the author, can see this IP address.  No need for concern. It is there for protection.  I own various other websites myself that allow commenting and all the software allows this same feature.  It IS fairly standard practice.

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7. 81

   BuffyGirlposted 11 years ago

   Ok thank you for your replies. I guess the good outweighs the bad as long as people are aware that their IP will be shown to the author of the hub, like you said IP's are visible to admins of web forums. I just wasn't aware of it here. So now I see that these hubs really are like our own little websites in that respect...I just wasn't thinking of them that way.  Having gone through a battle with many others (and winning) in an online virtual community to outlaw IP gathering without consent, because it was used in a detrimental manner, left me a little gun shy I guess.

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8. 81

   BuffyGirlposted 11 years ago

   Actually, it was always outlawed in the community's ToS but residents had to protest on a large scale to get the rule enforced.

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