NEW IP ADDRESS SYSTEM VS. PRIVACY.

The article focuses on an addressing system called IP address and relates it with the privacy of personal computers. A proposal to improve the way information flows across the Internet has caused worries for privacy advocates that the design could be used to trace a person's identity. The proposal, an addressing system called IPv6, was created by the Internet Engineering Task Force, an international standards body, and would include a unique serial number for each computer's network connection as part of its expanded new IP address. Critics warn that, if adopted, the move could strip the anonymity and security of Internet users over traditional phone lines, allowing commercial sites to correlate these embedded serial numbers against a consumer's name, address, and other personal details, from clothing size to political affiliation. Today, most home computers are assigned a different IP address each time they connect. According to a lawyer of Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center, Marc Rotenberg, although IPv6 would not be widely used for years, there is no doubt there are serious privacy concerns.