Data brokers and IP addresses

Data brokers combine records from public sources, purchases, and online identifiers. An IP address is one of those identifiers. It can suggest a rough location and can tie visits together while it stays the same.

A VPN presents the VPN server's address instead. The site does not see the address your ISP assigned for that session. If you sign in, the site still has the account. If a broker already bought your email or purchase history, the tunnel does not delete that file.

Clearing cookies and using a VPN are separate steps. Oak VPN's logs policy is on the privacy page.