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> anything with internet access can still guess location based on the public IP address used to connect to any server. Not to mention Chrome & friends will gla
by pests 2y ago
> anything with internet access can still guess location based on the public IP address used to connect to any server.
Not to mention Chrome & friends will gladly provide wifi-based location lookup to any site that asks for location. You can have GPS off, using a VPN, and still the website will know where you are. Turn it off, sure, then the site can block you.
Tried to get around my states online casino restrictions a few months back. Not a fun time.
- judge2020 2y ago> Turn it off, sure, then the site can block you. Yes? Is this a problem? > Tried to get around my states online casino restrictions a few months back. Not a fun time. How is any casino both (A) following state restrictions and (B) not validating based on both your geo location and the address you must validate via some KYC document? Or are you also entering a fake address somehow?
- pests 2y ago> Yes? Is this a problem? Yes, because I am trying to use the site. If they block me, I can't use it. They validate, usually via a backend SSN lookup or via an identity document like ID or passport, but only on registration. Sometimes they make you take a selfie with your ID. Sometimes you get flagged and have to identify again. In Michigan you are allowed to use the site from any location, there are restricted actions which must be location verified. Sports wagering and any casino gambling obviously, but I think deposits or withdraws might be location limited as well. The location verification is accomplished via both a dedicated program you must install on your device + giving location permission in the web browser, which uses GPS + Cellular + Wi-FI triangulation. > Or are you also entering a fake address somehow? You are allowed to use the online casino's with an out-of-state ID or address. You must simply be in the state for location verification. There is a little industry of people taking road or train trips to travel through all the online gambling states in order to sign up for the free promotion money.
- pests 2y agoFor anyone wanting to know what I tried and how it ended: This was on a laptop with no built-in GPS and no cellular. Paid VPN - nope, they probably have a list of all the VPN providers IP addresses. Self-VPN in cloud - no, again they probably have an IP list Self-VPN in target state on residential IP - nope, something else causing the fail Spoofing WiFi names & IDs in the environment of the residential IP above, both from online databases and having someone there do a scan - nope, I think the problem here was the networks in range of the laptop were lowering the confidence of the location check Finding a browser that doesn't incorporate WIFI triangulation - none that I could find, including all the privacy-focused browsers like Brave. They let you turn off location, but none let you disable the wifi component. At this point my thoughts were that I would have to find/write a custom driver or find some other way to get the wireless card to lie about which networks are nearby.... or find a way to crack the casino location service executable AND patch a browser not to rat on me. There is no other sources of leaks from what I could tell. No other signals being detected by my laptop, no DNS or VPN leaks, it had to be the Wi-Fi triangulation. I didn't want to do all that so instead just left a PC at home hooked up to a PiKVM and it worked perfectly. edit: Forgot to mention you must have Wifi on the device or else it will block and ask you to enable it.