8 ms·
Case in point: network ping spikes after using Geolocation that will persist until FF is closed: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1711854 https://b
by ncann 3y ago
Case in point: network ping spikes after using Geolocation that will persist until FF is closed:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1711854 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1711854
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y agoI never understood what geolocation was supposed to be within the context of of a desktop browser. If a website asks for this information, and I approve, what information is transmitted that couldn't be determined serverside via geoip?
- lights0123 3y agoBSSIDs of nearby WiFi networks that are compared to lists sent by mobile devices with real GPS
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y agoAnd if I don't even have a wifi card?
- NavinF 3y agoThen you represent a trivially small fraction of users. My desktop doesn't have wifi either, but most modern motherboards come with a wifi card built in. Not to mention the majority of visitors to mainstream sites are on mobile and a good chunk of the rest are on a laptop. Also Firefox has 3% market share so we're talking about a tiny fraction of a tiny fraction of a tiny fraction.
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y agoI run Qubes unless I'm doing something very performance-oriented like massively parallel workloads. So Firefox doesn't know about the builtin wifi card, which has no antenna connected, because I don't use it and it's just in the way anyway. So yeah I have a wifi card, technically, but also technically don't from the point of view of firefox or any other program on my computer.
- gsich 3y agoMost? More likely than not you will not have such a card in a mainboard.
- NavinF 3y agoYes, most. Look at X470 or z590 mobos that are 2 generations old. The majority have wifi though I personally don't see the point.
- gsich 3y agoRandom board: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X470-AORUS-ULTRA-GAMING-rev-10/sp#sp https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X470-AORUS-ULTRA-GAMING...
- nl 3y agoI don't think the BSSIDs are sent using the HTML5 location service. Instead your computer operating system sends the BSSIDs to another service, get the location back and then your browser uses this location service to send a lat,long to the requesting website. See https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mh35873/mac https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mh35873/mac and https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-location-service-and-privacy-3a8eee0a-5b0b-dc07-eede-2a5ca1c49088 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-location...
- iudqnolq 3y agoI think this is a gnome bug rather than an ff one, but it's pretty shit on my desktop. It reports absurd (<10ft) accuracy while being off by miles. Edit: s/100ft/10ft after I remembered better
- kelnos 3y agoOn the desktop, it might be limited in the sources it has. GeoIP is one source, of course, but that's often wrong or too coarse-grained (or distorted by things like VPNs). The BSSIDs of nearby WiFi access points can help make that better, but that depends on you being close enough to APs in its dataset. Most desktops don't have actual GPS hardware.
- iudqnolq 3y agoOf course. But the desktop reports both estimated location and estimated accuracy. I'm complaining about the inaccuracy of the accuracy, not of the location.
- kelnos 3y agoGeoIP tells you at best what city someone is in, and even then, for smaller towns, will usually report the nearest large city, which could be quite a ways a way. Not to mention it's often even just flat-out wrong. VPNs and other things distort where you are. Sometimes a website might need (or at least think it needs) correct, fine-grained location information. I do suspect that most websites that ask for location information could do fine with GeoIP, but that doesn't mean there isn't any use for more reliable, fine-grained location data.
- danielheath 3y agoOkay, but I never told Firefox my location, so what’s it doing that geoip can’t?
- ktosobcy 3y agolike Google and apple - they use exact locations of WiFi hotspots most of the time...
- saagarjha 3y agoThat’s not something a webpage can access.
- shmoe 3y agoIt's something a webpage can access on it's backend (the database of ssid/bssid and their locations) and something your computer uses(the access points its seeing) to locate you in the lack of a gps receiver and saying yes to the browser seeing your location.
- ktosobcy 3y agoBrowsers have geolocation api, webpage uses it. Then browser utilizes underlying OS capabilities to determine the location. On the phone it could use GPS, regular PC may relay on SSID of wifi networks, etc.
- 3y ago
- progmetaldev 3y agoAlthough I am unfamiliar with what is sent with geolocation, I do use a VPN, and allowing geolocation on a website does pull my correct location even when connected somewhere far away.
- 867-5309 3y agofor implicit it is reverse-geocoded from your IP address for explicit it is using device GPS and/or cell tower either you are not actually connected to the VPN or the website is storing your consent to access GPS coordinates. I'm not sure which is scarier to test the former go to a few different websites that tell you your IP address for the latter, fully clear your browser's cookies and cache and retry. does it ask to access fine location? another reason could be that you are logged in to e.g. google who already knows where you are based on historic searches, nearby wifi and bluetooth devices, etc.
- progmetaldev 3y agoThank you for the response, most likely it is browser cookies, as I've checked my IP address has changed and that there are no leaks. I will try running from a different browser in incognito mode to see if it still works.
- deesep 3y agoWebRTC leaks expose your real identity and location even when you use a VPN. You should disable it in your browsers.
- progmetaldev 3y agoAgreed, I disable WebRTC, and run uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger.
- nl 3y agoThe geolocation API uses location services on your device. This doesn't rely on your IP and instead looks at nearby WiFi access points and uses a 3rd party service to translate them to GPS locations.
- vhcr 3y agoMost MacBooks have a GPS antenna, so they will return pretty accurate location. And having a consistent API is important too, not having to care if your code is running on mobile or desktop is pretty nice.
- matthew-wegner 3y agoWhat? Zero MacBooks have GPS inside.
- kevingadd 3y agoAre you sure they don't just use WiFi SSIDs to determine a location? I can't find any evidence to support macbooks having GPS.
- chillfox 3y agoLol… geoip has never once gotten the state right for me. Best it does is get the country right.