Having your IP address alone does not let someone see your browsing history. An IP address only reveals that traffic passed between your device and a server, not which specific pages you visited or what you searched for. Your internet service provider is the one party that can see your overall browsing activity, since all your traffic passes through their network before reaching the internet. Individual websites you visit can only see the traffic you send directly to them, not activity on other sites. Someone who only has your IP address, such as another user online, cannot pull up a list of sites you have visited. To add another layer of privacy from your ISP and network operators, many people use a VPN, which encrypts traffic and hides browsing activity.

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