4 ms·

Firefox 3.5 is "location-aware"

21 points by pierrealexandre 17y ago

pierrealexandre 17y ago
The feature "display my position" is available in Google Maps. It is not when I use Safari 4.0.
fractalus 17y ago
Is there a way for it not to guess my position? I happen to have a desktop computer that´s very hard to move.
- BioGeek 17y ago
  How do I turn off Location-Aware Browsing permanently? Location-Aware Browsing is always opt-in in Firefox 3.5. No location information is ever sent without your permission. If you wish to disable the feature completely, please follow this set of steps: * In the URL bar, type about:config * Type geo.enabled * Double click on the geo.enabled preference * Location-Aware Browsing is now disabled
  - teeja 17y ago
    To select on a site-by-site basis: select Tools>Page info>Permissions.
  - chrisbolt 17y ago
    I think he meant, how do you tell your browser exactly where you are.
windsurfer 17y ago
How the hell does it know my nearby access points? I'm running it on Ubuntu. Sure, it's possible, but how does it have access to this information? Does it contain code to access every wifi-manager API in existence?
- statictype 17y ago
  Yeah, I was blown away by this as well. I'm guessing the ip address is enough. Google Chrome pinpointed my location down to the apartment block. Kind of scary, actually.
  - mixmax 17y ago
    That's not the whole story. I'm based in Copenhagen but for some reason my IP belongs to a Swedish batch, so I'm constantly being served Swedish ads instead of Danish ones. This service got my location right to within 100 meters. Also, I have a 3G wireless connection that plugs into my laptop, so that I can take it anywhere. There's noway that an IP address can convey my exact location.
    - furyg3 17y ago
      Same thing with me. I'm in Amsterdam, and whenever I turn AdBlock off to experience the web it its full glory (rarely), all the IP-based targeted ads think I'm in weird places (generally still in Holland, occasionally in Germany). The center of the circle on the map was about 4 meters to the left of where I am sitting on the couch, and the circle encompasses my block and nothing more. Amazing.
    - statictype 17y ago
      Interesting... its possible though that the ip mapping data that google uses is different\more accurate from the ones used by ad delivery companies. My notebook was on my local wireless network unconnected to anything else and it found my location. I can't think of any way its doing that other than ip address. And even with a 3G wireless, Chrome\Firefox almost certainly doesn't have access to your cell tower location information, right?
Mongoose 17y ago
Any resources on how to leverage this? Their FAQ offers no info for developers.
- sachinag 17y ago
  Code from Google: http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2009/04/google-location-services-now-in-mozilla.html http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2009/04/google-location-servi...
- joechung 17y ago
  W3C spec - http://dev.w3.org/geo/api/ http://dev.w3.org/geo/api/
- just_the_tip 17y ago
  https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Using_geolocation https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Using_geolocation
chris24 17y ago
Is anyone else getting funky results with this? It always returns 40.75, -73.997 (New York City) as my location, but I'm in Toronto.
- ingenium 17y ago
  I always get incorrect results for anything that uses the location feature in Firefox 3.5. This time it put me in Chicago, but I've been put in NYC and San Francisco before as well. I'm NEVER in the correct location (Pittsburgh). I'm running Ubuntu for what it's worth. You would think that it would do a reverse DNS on the IP at least to make sure it gets the city correct...
  - pbhj 17y ago
    What network are you on, if your access is via a corporate net then perhaps your connection is being tunneled to another location first; or maybe it's picking up a proxy server address?
behe101 17y ago
And if you want to disable this, go into about:config, search for "geo", and change "geo.enabled" to false. I'd really prefer a way to remove it from the browser entirely. I don't want any browser to give out my physical location under any circumstance.

pierrealexandre 17y ago

The feature "display my position" is available in Google Maps. It is not when I use Safari 4.0.

fractalus 17y ago

Is there a way for it not to guess my position? I happen to have a desktop computer that´s very hard to move.

BioGeek 17y ago
How do I turn off Location-Aware Browsing permanently? Location-Aware Browsing is always opt-in in Firefox 3.5. No location information is ever sent without your permission. If you wish to disable the feature completely, please follow this set of steps: * In the URL bar, type about:config * Type geo.enabled * Double click on the geo.enabled preference * Location-Aware Browsing is now disabled
- teeja 17y ago
  To select on a site-by-site basis: select Tools>Page info>Permissions.
- chrisbolt 17y ago
  I think he meant, how do you tell your browser exactly where you are.

windsurfer 17y ago

How the hell does it know my nearby access points? I'm running it on Ubuntu. Sure, it's possible, but how does it have access to this information? Does it contain code to access every wifi-manager API in existence?

statictype 17y ago
Yeah, I was blown away by this as well. I'm guessing the ip address is enough. Google Chrome pinpointed my location down to the apartment block. Kind of scary, actually.
- mixmax 17y ago
  That's not the whole story. I'm based in Copenhagen but for some reason my IP belongs to a Swedish batch, so I'm constantly being served Swedish ads instead of Danish ones. This service got my location right to within 100 meters. Also, I have a 3G wireless connection that plugs into my laptop, so that I can take it anywhere. There's noway that an IP address can convey my exact location.
  - furyg3 17y ago
    Same thing with me. I'm in Amsterdam, and whenever I turn AdBlock off to experience the web it its full glory (rarely), all the IP-based targeted ads think I'm in weird places (generally still in Holland, occasionally in Germany). The center of the circle on the map was about 4 meters to the left of where I am sitting on the couch, and the circle encompasses my block and nothing more. Amazing.
  - statictype 17y ago
    Interesting... its possible though that the ip mapping data that google uses is different\more accurate from the ones used by ad delivery companies. My notebook was on my local wireless network unconnected to anything else and it found my location. I can't think of any way its doing that other than ip address. And even with a 3G wireless, Chrome\Firefox almost certainly doesn't have access to your cell tower location information, right?

Mongoose 17y ago

Any resources on how to leverage this? Their FAQ offers no info for developers.

sachinag 17y ago
Code from Google: http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2009/04/google-location-services-now-in-mozilla.html http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2009/04/google-location-servi...
joechung 17y ago
W3C spec - http://dev.w3.org/geo/api/ http://dev.w3.org/geo/api/
just_the_tip 17y ago
https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Using_geolocation https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Using_geolocation

chris24 17y ago

Is anyone else getting funky results with this? It always returns 40.75, -73.997 (New York City) as my location, but I'm in Toronto.

ingenium 17y ago
I always get incorrect results for anything that uses the location feature in Firefox 3.5. This time it put me in Chicago, but I've been put in NYC and San Francisco before as well. I'm NEVER in the correct location (Pittsburgh). I'm running Ubuntu for what it's worth. You would think that it would do a reverse DNS on the IP at least to make sure it gets the city correct...
- pbhj 17y ago
  What network are you on, if your access is via a corporate net then perhaps your connection is being tunneled to another location first; or maybe it's picking up a proxy server address?

behe101 17y ago

And if you want to disable this, go into about:config, search for "geo", and change "geo.enabled" to false. I'd really prefer a way to remove it from the browser entirely. I don't want any browser to give out my physical location under any circumstance.