How to Get Someone's IP Address: 5 Practical Methods

Email Pixel Tracking Implementation

Email tracking pixels are 1x1 transparent images embedded in emails that capture IP addresses when opened.

Step-by-Step Implementation:

1. Create Tracking Pixel: Generate a unique 1x1 transparent PNG image
2. Server-Side Logging: Set up endpoint to log IP when image is requested
3. Email Integration: Embed pixel in HTML email
4. Data Analysis: Analyze captured IP data with geolocation

<?php
// tracking-pixel.php
$ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$user_agent = $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'];
$timestamp = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');

// Log the data
file_put_contents('tracking_log.txt', 
    "IP: $ip | UA: $user_agent | Time: $timestamp\n", 
    FILE_APPEND);

// Return 1x1 transparent pixel
header('Content-Type: image/png');
echo base64_decode('iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAYAAAAfFcSJAAAADUlEQVR42mNkYPhfDwAChwGA60e6kgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==');
?>

<img src="https://yourdomain.com/tracking-pixel.php?id=unique_email_id" 
     width="1" height="1" style="display:none;" alt="" />

Custom URL Shortener with IP Logging

Create custom shortened URLs that capture visitor IP addresses before redirecting to the target destination.

WhatsTheirIP Platform Features:

• Instant QR code generation (170x170px)
• Real-time IP geolocation tracking
• Detailed visitor analytics dashboard
• Custom domain support (grabify.icu)

// JavaScript tracking example
function trackIPAndRedirect(targetUrl, trackingId) {
    fetch('/api/track', {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: {
            'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        },
        body: JSON.stringify({
            tracking_id: trackingId,
            user_agent: navigator.userAgent,
            referrer: document.referrer,
            timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
        })
    }).then(() => {
        window.location.href = targetUrl;
    });
}

Legitimate Social Media IP Tracking

Use social media platforms and messaging apps to share trackable content for legitimate business or security purposes.

Platform-Specific Approaches:

// Generate trackable QR code
const QRCode = require('qrcode');

async function generateTrackableQR(originalUrl, trackingId) {
    const trackingUrl = `https://whatstheirip.com/track/${trackingId}?redirect=${encodeURIComponent(originalUrl)}`;
    
    const qrCodeDataURL = await QRCode.toDataURL(trackingUrl, {
        width: 170,
        height: 170,
        margin: 1,
        color: {
            dark: '#000000',
            light: '#FFFFFF'
        }
    });
    
    return qrCodeDataURL;
}

File-Based IP Tracking

Embed tracking mechanisms in documents, images, and other files to capture IP addresses when accessed.

Supported File Types:

// PHP dynamic image with tracking
<?php
function serveTrackedImage($imageId, $originalPath) {
    // Log visitor data
    $logData = [
        'ip' => $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'],
        'user_agent' => $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'],
        'timestamp' => time(),
        'image_id' => $imageId,
        'referrer' => $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] ?? 'direct'
    ];
    
    // Save to database or log file
    file_put_contents('image_tracking.log', json_encode($logData) . "\n", FILE_APPEND);
    
    // Serve original image
    header('Content-Type: ' . mime_content_type($originalPath));
    readfile($originalPath);
}
?>

Web Server Access Log Mining

Analyze web server logs to extract and correlate IP addresses with user behavior and geographic data.

Log Analysis Techniques:

• Apache/Nginx Logs: Parse access logs for IP patterns
• Application Logs: Custom logging in web applications
• CDN Analytics: CloudFlare, AWS CloudFront data
• Database Correlation: Match IPs with user accounts

import re
import requests
from collections import defaultdict

def analyze_apache_logs(log_file):
    ip_stats = defaultdict(int)
    ip_pattern = r'^(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)'
    
    with open(log_file, 'r') as f:
        for line in f:
            match = re.match(ip_pattern, line)
            if match:
                ip = match.group(1)
                ip_stats[ip] += 1
    
    # Get geolocation for top IPs
    for ip, count in sorted(ip_stats.items(), key=lambda x: x[1], reverse=True)[:10]:
        geo_data = get_ip_geolocation(ip)
        print(f"IP: {ip}, Visits: {count}, Location: {geo_data['country']}, {geo_data['city']}")

def get_ip_geolocation(ip):
    response = requests.get(f'http://ip-api.com/json/{ip}')
    return response.json()