Privacy and Security in IPv6

Many Internet service providers (ISPs) throughout the world are now in the process of integrating IPv6 into their Internet access products for retail customers and corporate clients. One of the most important features of the IPv6 protocol is its huge address space. This will enable users to assign a life-long stable, unique and globally routable IP address to each personal device. All users will be able to set up public services at home and be able to communicate from and to their devices from any point in the network. The resulting end-to-end reachability is considered a major improvement over the current situation [1]. IPv6 evoked a new debate between privacy and security in order to attract more unique IP addresses to locate users, especially with the advent of mobile devices. While the initial IPv6 specification from 1995 does already contain a variety of security considerations (namely, message integrity protection as well as encryption based on IPsec), privacy aspects have not played a major role in the beginning. [2]