Your IP address isn’t personal information (new legal case)

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Jim Molini, in his blog post Getting Personal with IP Addresses, mentions a ruling last month in US District Court that states that your IP address isn’t personal identifying information, along with several reasons why he thinks this is a Good Idea Who’s Time has Come.

0 thoughts on “Your IP address isn’t personal information (new legal case)”

  1. Sorry, I have to disagree.

    Speaking as not-a-lawyer, my opinion isn’t meant as one bound by legal definition of property, etc. In fact, I gladly defer to your reading of the ruling; so fine, it isn’t ‘property’ per se.

    Nevertheless, because the ISPs who own (hmmmmm, not really) the addresses are often required by one regulating/governing body or another to keep track of who the IP addresses they control are assigned to, and are sometimes subpoenaed for that information, an IP address IS personal identifying information, at least transiently.

    If your point is to remove ownership ‘rights’ then of course you want to see IP addresses as not PII. But if you are afraid that someone hitching a ride on your network (yes, it ought to be protected, but still) might do something illegal while there and you could get left holding the bag, then you have to be afraid and err the other way.

    In other words, if a case can get built against me based on my IP address (and we’ve seen this many times, now), then call it what it is: PII. And plan your actions from there.

    Jeff Yablon
    President & CEO
    Virtual VIP Business Coaching and Virtual Assistant Services

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