In general the readers we interact with here at CTOvision.com know IP technologies and applications. So I might be telling you something here you already know. But if you have not taken steps to protect your privacy online services can collect and understand a great deal about your computer habits. They can do this many ways, including use of cookies, use of login information, and even use of your IP address. Others can collect info on your sessions while they are underway, unless you have taken steps to encrypt or protect your info in other ways.
This is the way the Internet has been since its creation, and over the years many sites have been established with helpful tools to inform and educate on what can be known about you and what you can do about it. One aspect I would like to highlight here is info on your IP address.
One I like for its simplicity and mapping interface is: http://en.utrace.de Visit there and it will automatically sense your IP and then plot what it knows about your location. It is spoofable by running your connection through a proxy, of course, so you might want to try doing it before and after you take steps to protect your online browsing records.
A similar site is: http://whatismyipaddress.com This site provides similar info and great FAQs on how IP technology works. Another is: http://www.showmyip.com They provide a few notes on ways to do more advanced queries.
For more info on IP addresses, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ip_address
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