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Anonymize IP or not save it at all?

Data minimization requires limiting personal data to the minimum necessary. Therefore, first ask whether a persistent log is even needed. Only when a legitimate purpose requires data are masking, short-term retention and access restriction considered as next steps.

Decision

First determine the purpose: If the IP is not needed after the request has been completed, not saving is preferable to subsequent masking.

Principle

“We don’t save!” does not evaluate whether an IP address becomes visible during technical communication, but rather whether this results in unnecessary persistent storage, recognition or sharing.

Related guides

• GoAccess: Anonymize IP addresses when evaluating logs
• Traefik: Configure access logs to save data
• WordPress: Statify as a simple, data-efficient page view counter
• WordPress: Set Koko Analytics to be as data-efficient as possible

Sources and verification

This guide is based on multiple current sources. Vendor documentation is not treated as proof that every concrete installation automatically follows the same privacy characteristics.

• Source 1
• Source 2

Important: IP processing is not IP storage

An IP address has to be processed to establish and deliver a network connection. Hosting providers, firewalls or DDoS protection may also process or retain it for a limited time for security purposes. No Logging distinguishes this security layer from unnecessary persistent visitor logging by the website, application and ordinary access logs.