Are there any best practices or guidelines for handling user identification and tracking using internal IP or MAC addresses in PHP applications?

When handling user identification and tracking using internal IP or MAC addresses in PHP applications, it is important to ensure that the user's privacy is respected and that sensitive information is not exposed. One way to address this issue is to hash the IP or MAC address before storing it in the database. This way, the original value is not stored in plain text, making it more secure.

// Hash the IP address before storing it in the database
$hashed_ip = hash('sha256', $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']);

// Store the hashed IP address in the database
$query = "INSERT INTO user_tracking (hashed_ip) VALUES ('$hashed_ip')";
// Execute the query