# Problematic IP address fields

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/problematic-ip-address-fields/83785>\
**Category:** Feature\
**Tags:** gdpr, privacy\
**Created:** [March 25, 2018, 7:06am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/problematic-ip-address-fields/83785 "2018-03-25T07:06:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 12

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**Author:** ![riking](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/riking/32/170938_2.png) [@riking](https://meta.discourse.org/u/riking)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 9:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/problematic-ip-address-fields/83785/12 "2018-03-26T21:33:11Z")

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> [@RGJ](#):
>
> It’s not about scrubbing them, it’s about not storing them in the first place.

“Not storing them in the first place” is a forward-looking change, “scrubbing” is removing the historical data.

> [@RGJ](#):
>
> I’m still wondering for the reason for IP addresses for incoming links and search logs?

Same as the TopicViewItem code, it’s used as a uniqueness measure so only one per day is counted from the same IP.

Could probably use hashed IPs, too.

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