How can PHP developers efficiently mask or anonymize IP addresses in their code to protect user privacy?

To mask or anonymize IP addresses in PHP code, developers can use the `anonimize_ip()` function to replace the last octet of the IP address with zeros. This helps protect user privacy by not revealing the full IP address while still allowing for some level of tracking or analysis.

function anonymize_ip($ip) {
    $parts = explode('.', $ip);
    $parts[3] = '0';
    return implode('.', $parts);
}

$original_ip = '127.0.0.1';
$anonymized_ip = anonymize_ip($original_ip);
echo $anonymized_ip; // Output: 127.0.0.0