IP address

Classifiers Filled

Family

Thing Registry

Category

Information and virtual systems

Entry kind

thing

Plane

INF

Domain

INF.MED

Other names and narrower kinds

private network, Enterprise private network, dynamic IP address, static IP address, IPv6 address, unique local address, reserved IP address, IPv4 address, public network, link-local address, virtual IP address

What it is Filled

A numerical label assigned to a network interface on a network that uses the Internet Protocol, identifying the host and enabling routing, in IPv4 as a 32-bit address usually written in dotted decimal, and in IPv6, standardised in RFC 2460 of 1998 and RFC 8200 of 2017, as a 128-bit address written in hexadecimal; addresses may be static or dynamically assigned by DHCP, and private IPv4 address ranges defined in RFC 1918 and IPv6 unique local addresses are used inside private and enterprise networks. Private IPv4 networks commonly use network address translation for public Internet access, while IPv6 unique local addresses do not require address translation for their use. The registry aliases private network and enterprise private network name networks rather than addresses. IP addresses can be personal data under laws such as the GDPR, and this model gives no guidance on tracking or attacking individuals.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent explain IP addresses, relay formats, allocation, private ranges, DHCP, NAT and privacy from IETF, IANA and data protection sources, describe the named address types and flag network aliases, and distinguish IP addresses from MAC addresses, domain names, ports and physical locations, without enabling tracking or attacks.

Distinguishing features Filled

• Hierarchical allocation
• IPv4 exhaustion
• Private and public ranges
• Personal data status

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

• Use an IP address to track, locate or harass a person.
• Scan or probe addresses on networks it is not authorized to test.
• Present an IP address as proof of who a person is.
• Publish logs that tie IP addresses to identifiable people without a legal basis.

Only with a human decision

• Blocking or reporting an address that may be shared by many innocent users.
• Handing address records to a third party seeking a person's identity.

May

• Explain IP addressing, IPv4 and IPv6 notation and how routing uses addresses.
• Manage addresses on networks the agent is authorized to administer.
• State the limits of IP geolocation honestly when asked to locate an address.

Moral aspects Filled

• An IP address can be personal data and can lead to a person's home or identity.
• Shared and reassigned addresses mean that blaming the address can blame the wrong person.

Who is affected

• Internet users
• Network operators
• People wrongly identified

Owners Filled

Steward

The network operator that assigned it; regional internet registries record the allocation of address blocks.

Master systems

• Regional internet registry allocation databases

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

• Q4418000 - registry parent class
• Q658349 - registry parent class

related

• network address - in registry terms
• Internet Assigned Numbers Authority - through regional registries
• MAC address
• private network - network rather than address

Sources Filled

1. Wikidata item Q11135: IP address - identity and sense of the item
2. Wikipedia: IP address - general description of the item

Open questions

• The registry aliases private network and enterprise private network should be moved to network entries
• Should IPv6 address be a separate entry?
• How should IETF RFCs be linked?

Machine files

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q11135/spec.json