4 ms·

They don't sell your location data, they sell targeting options for specific geographic locations. These are quite different. I'm okay with seeing an ad targete

They don't sell your location data, they sell targeting options for specific geographic locations. These are quite different. I'm okay with seeing an ad targeted at anyone within walking distance of a cafe. I'm not okay with my personal location getting sold to whoever thinks they have a valuable enough use for it.

greglindahl 8y ago
Location information leaks from ad targeting. Maybe that doesn't bother you, but it might bother other people. One way it leaks is that an advertiser generally knows what ad campaign a user clicked on. So if that ad campaign was only sent to a particular location, you know where the user was when they clicked on the ad.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- bduerst 8y ago
  Knowing the city that someone clicked your ad in because you targeted the ad in that city isn't 'leaking' location data. These advertiser websites know your city already by the act of you visiting their website.
  - rightbyte 8y ago
    It's not city accuracy. It's 1000 m nominal. If you could target a peak or small island and get better effective accuracy, I would not be surprised. "You can choose one of the default radius settings or set a custom radius from a minimum of 1 km to a maximum of 1,000 km." https://support.google.com/richmedia/answer/7279179?hl=en&ref_topic=7409079 https://support.google.com/richmedia/answer/7279179?hl=en&re...
    - bduerst 8y ago
      Ad location targeting at best is in a 3 sq. km area, not 1 km. For an average city in the U.S. (like St. Louis) that's an aggregate density of 6,000 people. Knowing that someone in 6,000 people in an area clicked on your coffee ad is not leaking GPS data. Which is probably why bounty hunters are buying the data directly from cell carriers and not running targeted Google ads.
      - greglindahl 8y ago
        It's a leak of location information, which is what this sub-thread is about. The location information was only inside of Google, and now the advertiser has it. It's also not "one in 6,000 people" if it's someone who signs up for some service via the ad. That particular someone might not realize that the service knows their location.
        bduerst 8y ago
        And that's the same deal with Geo IP, which this sub thread is about. The point in 1:6,000 is that whether it's ad targeting or just regular internet traffic, there isnt enough specificity to "leak" data about the person. You can split hairs over, "Well what of they join that 1:6000 with other PII" and it's the same with Geo IP. The user gives up that data but it's not different than just visit the page normally.
- ThrustVectoring 8y ago
  Website owners already know your rough geographic location via IP address. If it's that big of a concern for you, you should route 100% of your traffic through a VPN.
  - greglindahl 8y ago
    GeoIP is not that accurate in many situations, and note that a VPN does not protect you against this kind of targeted ad location leak. I'm confused by your reference to me and my concerns. This isn't a discussion about me; I was making a point about leakage of location information.
    - ThrustVectoring 8y ago
      I was using the generic you throughout - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_you

greglindahl 8y ago

Location information leaks from ad targeting. Maybe that doesn't bother you, but it might bother other people. One way it leaks is that an advertiser generally knows what ad campaign a user clicked on. So if that ad campaign was only sent to a particular location, you know where the user was when they clicked on the ad.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
bduerst 8y ago
Knowing the city that someone clicked your ad in because you targeted the ad in that city isn't 'leaking' location data. These advertiser websites know your city already by the act of you visiting their website.
- rightbyte 8y ago
  It's not city accuracy. It's 1000 m nominal. If you could target a peak or small island and get better effective accuracy, I would not be surprised. "You can choose one of the default radius settings or set a custom radius from a minimum of 1 km to a maximum of 1,000 km." https://support.google.com/richmedia/answer/7279179?hl=en&ref_topic=7409079 https://support.google.com/richmedia/answer/7279179?hl=en&re...
  - bduerst 8y ago
    Ad location targeting at best is in a 3 sq. km area, not 1 km. For an average city in the U.S. (like St. Louis) that's an aggregate density of 6,000 people. Knowing that someone in 6,000 people in an area clicked on your coffee ad is not leaking GPS data. Which is probably why bounty hunters are buying the data directly from cell carriers and not running targeted Google ads.
    - greglindahl 8y ago
      It's a leak of location information, which is what this sub-thread is about. The location information was only inside of Google, and now the advertiser has it. It's also not "one in 6,000 people" if it's someone who signs up for some service via the ad. That particular someone might not realize that the service knows their location.
      - bduerst 8y ago
        And that's the same deal with Geo IP, which this sub thread is about. The point in 1:6,000 is that whether it's ad targeting or just regular internet traffic, there isnt enough specificity to "leak" data about the person. You can split hairs over, "Well what of they join that 1:6000 with other PII" and it's the same with Geo IP. The user gives up that data but it's not different than just visit the page normally.
ThrustVectoring 8y ago
Website owners already know your rough geographic location via IP address. If it's that big of a concern for you, you should route 100% of your traffic through a VPN.
- greglindahl 8y ago
  GeoIP is not that accurate in many situations, and note that a VPN does not protect you against this kind of targeted ad location leak. I'm confused by your reference to me and my concerns. This isn't a discussion about me; I was making a point about leakage of location information.
  - ThrustVectoring 8y ago
    I was using the generic you throughout - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_you