4 ms·

Not gonna lie, this creeps the heck out of me.

by chaps 3y ago

giantrobot 3y ago
You might want to unplug your router then. A conceit of being connected to a network is you're connected to the network. If you can see other nodes they can see you.
- jiveturkey 3y ago
  Is this an accepted usage of the word `conceit`? I love the construction, and it does feel like it belongs, but I'm not finding this usage. https://www.wordnik.com/words/conceit https://www.wordnik.com/words/conceit has a bunch of meanings collected from various sources. I wonder if you meant `concession`. Also, it's a false dichotomy. One can use VPN or proxies, to limit exposure or to encapsulate it. Of course, you can't get perfect location privacy.
fragmede 3y ago
Your IP address is LEAKING!
reincoder 3y ago
Thousands of people live in a zip code, while hundreds and thousands of people live in a city. We are literally giving away that data for free through our API and database. The creepiness of IP geolocation is mostly a meme. IP geolocation is mainly used in cybersecurity and marketing analytics. There are many ways to geolocate someone. I once came across a project that could estimate the country a user is from based on their writing style and grammar mistakes. For example, American people sometimes use "should of" instead of "should have". Knowing the geolocation of an IP address isn't super creepy. It's just how things work on the internet.
- chaps 3y ago
  And you're literally advertising this project as being helpful for targeted ads. So it's pretty clear from the get go that what you consider creepy isn't what I consider creepy. And having done enough reidentification work to scare myself, "thousands of people" might as well be a couple dozen or less. I get why you're defensive and why you think it's not creepy, but calling it a "meme" is insultingingly dismissive. Just because it's "how things work on the internet" doesn't make its mass collection right. Under the same logic, any side channel attack is just "how it works", and its abuse warrants no ethical question.
  - reincoder 3y ago
    I grok and understand your concern. I am not being defensive; I am just trying to provide an explanation. I really enjoy having conversations like this with developers as honestly and empathetically possible. I apologize if I was rude in any way by saying the word "meme". I saw a sister comment and thought you were being sarcastic. There is a popular meme about "I have your IP address", so I thought you were referencing that. I have had conversations with many young people who were concerned about their IP address being leaked through a game server. Therefore, I try to use humor to alleviate their stress. However, I now realize that this situation was different, and I am sorry for not understanding that. We provide a service that helps users keep their internet-connected services secure by providing IP metadata information. Are you being attacked by malicious actors? Use our free IP database to identify the location and ASN to block them. Do you want to restrict access to your service to certain regions? Do that for free with our services. We have the most accurate data available, and yet we offer the most generous free tier. We provide a full accuracy IP database for free, without any range aggregation, and with daily updates and a commercially permissible license. We have built a community forum solely dedicated to answering users' questions. We invest in website tools and open-source tools, all with the goal of helping users maintain the security and functionality of their services. We do have premium tier services, but if you use our free data as a foundation, you can always replicate those premium features to a reliable degree. Our IP metadata information is being used in marketing and sales intelligence. It is the same data that you use to protect your internet connected devices, used by our customers to sell you something. IP metadata information that we provide is a cornerstone of keeping the internet safe and accessible for everyone. That is how things just are. The deepweb is immune to IP meta data information, and that is why it is such a messy and chaotic place. That is just truth of the internet. We are essential and we prefer to be open about our process and listen to our stakeholders (users + customers + non-users).
    - chaps 3y ago
      Thank you for the well thought out response. I disagree with just about everything you say, but I understand where you're coming from and I appreciate the validation that the use of a VPN is more important than it's ever been. As a professional courtesy: calling yourself "essential" is an enormous red flag and you might want to consider different phrasing.
goodpoint 3y ago
Together with the tons of data leaked by browsers it makes it very easy to track people across places and devices.

Not gonna lie, this creeps the heck out of me.

by chaps 3y ago

Not gonna lie, this creeps the heck out of me.

You might want to unplug your router then. A conceit of being connected to a network is you're connected to the network. If you can see other nodes they can see you.

jiveturkey 3y ago
Is this an accepted usage of the word `conceit`? I love the construction, and it does feel like it belongs, but I'm not finding this usage. https://www.wordnik.com/words/conceit https://www.wordnik.com/words/conceit has a bunch of meanings collected from various sources. I wonder if you meant `concession`. Also, it's a false dichotomy. One can use VPN or proxies, to limit exposure or to encapsulate it. Of course, you can't get perfect location privacy.

fragmede 3y ago

Your IP address is LEAKING!

reincoder 3y ago

Thousands of people live in a zip code, while hundreds and thousands of people live in a city. We are literally giving away that data for free through our API and database. The creepiness of IP geolocation is mostly a meme. IP geolocation is mainly used in cybersecurity and marketing analytics. There are many ways to geolocate someone. I once came across a project that could estimate the country a user is from based on their writing style and grammar mistakes. For example, American people sometimes use "should of" instead of "should have". Knowing the geolocation of an IP address isn't super creepy. It's just how things work on the internet.

chaps 3y ago
And you're literally advertising this project as being helpful for targeted ads. So it's pretty clear from the get go that what you consider creepy isn't what I consider creepy. And having done enough reidentification work to scare myself, "thousands of people" might as well be a couple dozen or less. I get why you're defensive and why you think it's not creepy, but calling it a "meme" is insultingingly dismissive. Just because it's "how things work on the internet" doesn't make its mass collection right. Under the same logic, any side channel attack is just "how it works", and its abuse warrants no ethical question.
- reincoder 3y ago
  I grok and understand your concern. I am not being defensive; I am just trying to provide an explanation. I really enjoy having conversations like this with developers as honestly and empathetically possible. I apologize if I was rude in any way by saying the word "meme". I saw a sister comment and thought you were being sarcastic. There is a popular meme about "I have your IP address", so I thought you were referencing that. I have had conversations with many young people who were concerned about their IP address being leaked through a game server. Therefore, I try to use humor to alleviate their stress. However, I now realize that this situation was different, and I am sorry for not understanding that. We provide a service that helps users keep their internet-connected services secure by providing IP metadata information. Are you being attacked by malicious actors? Use our free IP database to identify the location and ASN to block them. Do you want to restrict access to your service to certain regions? Do that for free with our services. We have the most accurate data available, and yet we offer the most generous free tier. We provide a full accuracy IP database for free, without any range aggregation, and with daily updates and a commercially permissible license. We have built a community forum solely dedicated to answering users' questions. We invest in website tools and open-source tools, all with the goal of helping users maintain the security and functionality of their services. We do have premium tier services, but if you use our free data as a foundation, you can always replicate those premium features to a reliable degree. Our IP metadata information is being used in marketing and sales intelligence. It is the same data that you use to protect your internet connected devices, used by our customers to sell you something. IP metadata information that we provide is a cornerstone of keeping the internet safe and accessible for everyone. That is how things just are. The deepweb is immune to IP meta data information, and that is why it is such a messy and chaotic place. That is just truth of the internet. We are essential and we prefer to be open about our process and listen to our stakeholders (users + customers + non-users).
  - chaps 3y ago
    Thank you for the well thought out response. I disagree with just about everything you say, but I understand where you're coming from and I appreciate the validation that the use of a VPN is more important than it's ever been. As a professional courtesy: calling yourself "essential" is an enormous red flag and you might want to consider different phrasing.

goodpoint 3y ago

Together with the tons of data leaked by browsers it makes it very easy to track people across places and devices.