# How do I generate the Let's Encrypt certificate and key on my own device? \[More info inside\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [February 9, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/how-do-i-generate-the-lets-encrypt-certificate-and-key-on-my-own-device-more-info-inside/27510 "2017-02-09T21:02:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 16
**Author:** ![mnordhoff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/mnordhoff/32/22583_2.png) [@mnordhoff](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/mnordhoff)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/how-do-i-generate-the-lets-encrypt-certificate-and-key-on-my-own-device-more-info-inside/27510/16 "2017-02-11T22:15:22Z")
> [@\_1uke](#): > > 1. Do I have to provide an email address? I am quite happy to mark my calendar to remind myself and don't need certbot to remind me. No. šŸ™‚ > [@\_1uke](#): > > 1. This is my biggest concern I have always been told it is a very bad idea to share your IP address. Should I really be agreeing to share my IP address publicly? Anything I need to know before I go ahead and do this or is it better avoided? Well. There are thousands of websites and other services that know your IP addresses. And there are only 4 billion IPv4 addresses, so anyone can guess yours plus or minus 2 billion. šŸ˜œ It's up to you whether associating your device's public IP address with your certificates is considered acceptable. It's unlikely to be an issue for most people, especially if your IP changes regularly anyway, but it is a consideration if you're a high-value target of some sort. At the moment, while Let's Encrypt asks for permission to share your IP address, they do not yet do it. > [@Public IP logging](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/public-ip-logging/26385): > > Iā€¦ --- _[View the full topic](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/how-do-i-generate-the-lets-encrypt-certificate-and-key-on-my-own-device-more-info-inside/27510)._