Is it legal for a company to look at your IP address and give it out?

Question

Is it legal for a company to look at your IP address and give it out?

Answer 1

I agree with what Twist.  But keep in mind, it's not YOUR IP number.  It belongs to your ISP not to you.  You don't own the IP, they do.  You are "renting" it from them. As a renter, you have less rights than an owner.  So in my opinion, the courts will eventually rule that ISP's should be able to provide "appropriate people" (ie: law enforcement) info such as who "rented" an IP # at a given time without having to get court orders, etc everytime.

Answer 2

Depends. They must notify you in some way beforehand. It would have been helpful if you had provided the company. Usually, though, you need to sift through all of the legal mumbo-jumbo before you can get to the stuff that you care about.  

Answer 3

It is legal under the privacy act if the site requires you to click on an "I agree" button to terms that state that they can do so, and thereby only on their volition. It would be rare for a court order to even be able to get IP addresses because it is not providing information on people they don't already have identified and therefore is considered irrelevant to a case. The company can instead turn over encrypted data which can show the amount, frequency and type of data you download but still will not id the IP or the person involved with it. These laws are currently being debated in courtrooms as we speak.  

Answer 4

NO. If that IP address offended your company and have done something against you.

Answer 5

to who?