Are you going on Omegle, and are wondering or not whether or not people can track you?
The truth is, there are security issues that can make Omegle a little unsafe to use, if you are not careful.
In this article, I’ll be covering whether or not people can track you, what the exact information they can gather is, and how you can keep yourself safe on this popular chatting platform.
Let’s get to it!
Can People Track You On Omegle?
Yes, it is possible for people to track certain information about you on Omegle.
While somebody cannot find your exact address from Omegle alone, they may be able to acquire your network’s IP address – allowing them to know the internet provider you use, and even the exact city you live in, in some cases.
If you are reading this article because somebody has already claimed that they’ve tracked you, don’t worry!
Usually, it is very difficult to find out any information beyond your city, unless you’ve given away additional information.
However, if you aren’t careful, it is possible to give away information without realizing it.
Therefore, I strongly encourage you to read through the next section carefully, as it covers every way you can be tracked, in detail.
How You Can Be Tracked On Omegle
Let’s look over each way you can be tracked on Omegle, without realizing it.
Some of these aren’t things that most people even know are possible. So, by being mindful of them, you can do a lot more to protect yourself online!
1. Your IP Address
As mentioned earlier, the first thing that people may find out is your network’s IP address.
This essentially is a number that identifies your network, and is usually a series of number (IPv4) or letters and numbers (IPv6.)
So, why is this useful to someone?
Ultimately, it can identify two things about you:
- Your internet service provider.
- In some cases, the city that you live in.
It is commonly believed that if somebody knows your IP address, they will be able to find the exact location of your home. However, this isn’t the truth!
While the government or your internet service provider can identify you specifically with your IP address, an IP address alone is not enough to identify you to a random person.
So, even if someone scares you by listing off the exact city you live in, you don’t need to worry about them actually having your home address – they don’t.
Other than potentially identifying your city, one thing that somebody with your IP address may be able to do is take your network offline temporarily, through something called a DDoS attack.
However, this is unlikely to happen, as it offers no real benefit to the other person.
Why Does Omegle Give Away Your IP Address?
Omegle is actually less secure than many online communication platforms, due to the way that it works.
With most services, there is a central server in between you and the other person.
So, your computer connects to the platform’s server, uploads your conversation, and then the other person downloads it from the server in real-time. This means their device is communicating with the platform’s server, not with you directly. The server acts as a middleman between the two of you.
Omegle isn’t like that, however.
Instead, Omegle uses a peer to peer connection, meaning that your two devices connect directly with each other, with no middleman in between.
Because your devices are connected directly with each other, this is why they are able to grab your IP address, unless you do something to stop it (which I’ll talk about later.)
2. The Things You Tell Them
Did you know that some people are able to identify you based solely on the things that you say?
This one can be really difficult to prevent, because you really have to think about what you say before you say it.
However, it’s possible you’re giving away identifying information about yourself without realizing it!
For example, if you list off stores that are local to your area without realizing it, this can be used to give away your city.
Or, if you were to mention your former high school mascot, this (combined with knowledge of your city) can identify the exact high school that you went to.
Even the phrases and slang you use to describe certain things can be identifying!
The more information somebody finds out about you, the easier it is for them to piece it together and discover who you actually are.
So, be careful what you share – especially if it’s something unique about you!
3. Screenshots + Screen Captures (reverse person lookup, can find your name + social profiles. Rare that they work, but possible.)
This one is perhaps the scariest of them all.
Technology has come a long way, and we now have facial recognition tools that are able to identify people from their faces alone.
This means that if you’re video chatting with someone on Omegle, it’s possible they may be able to take a screenshot of your face, and plug it into a facial recognition tool to find other photos of you online.
These photos may give additional information about your location, who your friends with, and even personal information such as your full name, or links to your social profiles.
That being said, this is entirely theoretical, and just because somebody has a picture of your face does not mean that they’ll be able to find out everything about you.
In most cases, you likely have nothing to worry about.
If you’d like to test this out yourself however to see what others can find, you can use a service like Pimeyes to see what shows up.
Again, this is not something most people will bother with. Most people who claim to have tracked someone on Omegle just do it to freak people out and prank them, with no intention of taking it further than that.
I just wanted to mention this because it is technically a possibility, and it is something that you should be aware of.
Can Omegle Themselves Track You?
Now that we’ve talked about whether or not the people you talk to on Omegle can track you, let’s now talk about Omegle themselves.
Can Omegle themselves track you, and figure out who you are?
Not exactly – but they can pass this information off to law enforcement, who will be able to figure it out.
According to their privacy policy, Omegle tracks quite a bit of information, including your IP address, metadata about the conversation (such as who you talked to), and screenshots of video chat communications.
Most information is typically kept for 120 days before being deleted, while screenshots are typically discarded after several hours.
While Omegle themselves won’t be able to identify you based off of your IP address, law enforcement certainly will be able to.
You can view an example on what data Omegle collects (and what it looks like) in their guide for law enforcement here.
How To Protect Yourself From Tracking On Omegle
So, now that we know how easy someone can be tracked on Omegle, what can be done to protect yourself?
Let’s look over a few ideas!
1. Create A Private VPN
If you want to hide your IP address from others, the only way to do this on Omegle is to use a private VPN.
By this, I mean not using a traditional VPN service that you can buy online, but actually creating your own.
This is because all traditional VPNs have been banned by Omegle, due to people using them for rule-breaking or illegal behavior. So, if you try to use a normal VPN on Omegle, they simply won’t let you connect with anyone.
Unfortunately, creating your own VPN is kind of complicated, and goes beyond the scope of this article. It’s also a lot of extra work just for a little additional safety on Omegle.
However, it will do the job at keeping your IP safe, as when somebody looks up your IP, they will find the IP address of the VPN, and not your actual IP.
To learn more about VPNs and how they work, watch this brief video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ecxXAAKNA
2. Be Mindful Of What You Share
As mentioned earlier, the specific things you share can be used to help identify you.
This can be as simple as a specific store / business that is unique to your area, or even the unique slang that you use.
The longer, more detailed, and more descriptive things you say to someone, the more that they can piece it together to identify you.
If someone is set on figuring out who you are, you must assume that they are keeping records of everything that you say.
So, if necessary, be vague when describing things, or change the subject when things get too personal.
3. Consider Hiding / Masking Your Face
This one is certainly optional, as it can definitely affect your experience talking with others on Omegle.
As mentioned earlier however, it is possible (in some situations) for people to find other pictures of you online, if they have at least one clear picture of your face.
So, you may wish to intentionally lower the lighting so your face is harder to see, or even wear a mask when talking with others online.
This can make it more difficult for the other person to get a clear picture of your face, which can be plugged into facial recognition services.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, it is possible for other people to track you on Omegle – at least to a certain degree.
However, it is very difficult for someone to find out enough information to actually cause concern. Most of the time, even if someone claims they have tracked you, they may know nothing more than your IP address or city – which isn’t enough to be threatening to you.
I hope that this article has answered all of your questions, and provided some assurance.
If you have any other questions about Omegle or being tracked, ask them below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister
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