I roll with firefox, just updated to v4 last night and it seems to be a bit faster. I like Chrome but they lack certain things that I really use like a multi-row bookmarks toolbar

Repost this so people can see it... bad information is, just that... bad.


It's not your Wifi that does that, it's the product/machine/software behind it... like the iphone has built in GPS, the location info is passed to Google Maps. While my iTouch doesn't, and Gmaps still thinks I'm in San Fran, which I haven't visited in almost a year.

For Chrome.... you have to 'allow' the extension to be installed, it's not automatic.

http://www.google.com/support/chrome...42065&hl=en-US
"Google Chrome never shares your location without your permission"


What everyone is suggesting in this thread would be the largest privacy violation in the world and violate 90% of the Countries privacy laws, if they even did .1% of what was suggested in this thread.




Edit: Devices with no GPS, if you walk through an area with lots of public wifi's and you try to connect, several wifi's with locations being broadcast through them, will help a non GPS device find its location. The more wifi's around you, the better it will pin point you.

Yes it's not just YOUR wi-fi router, it's the wi-fi network which your router is a part of.

Read more here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/geolocation/
Also try this: http://www.google.ru/search?q=geolocation+wi-fi

Yes it is a privacy violation and it's already happen. And I have a proof. I'm using VPN for save surfing (don't want my ISP to read my email, my posts on the message boards etc). My VPN server is located in EU, so every time when I typed google.com I was redirected to the European version of google with the same default language as my VPN's IP was.

After that I was using Chrome for a while. I never gave any permission to disclosure my location, however... some time ago I found out that now google.com always sends me to google.ru (the local version for the country where I really live). This means that now google associates my VPN's IP with Russia, but not with the EU where it actually is located.

I did some tests and tried google.com via various proxies. With German proxy I was sent to google.de, with the UK one I was sent to google.co.uk and with the US IP I was sent to google.com.

Thus I 100% sure that google Chrome has translated my geo location to google w/o my permission and now google associates it (the geo location) with my Eeuropean VPN IP.

Can you find some different explanation?

Some addition. I don't have any GPS-like devices connected to my PC. Also cookies for google are set "for session only", and every time I re-load the browser, they get erased.

Not sure why you shared those url's with me... they say exactly what I said.

Gears doesn't automatically detect you, you have to approve it each time... which would again put something on your PC/device that has the ability to figure out your location.

It's not anyone's wifi doing this at any level, it's technology/software behind the wifi's that do it.

Read my post above.

You have your settings set to your region/country in Google, they don't ask for permission on it, you add it, it's done until you change it.

Then you've clearly allowed it at some point.... it's not automatic for you and not anyone else in the world.

And truck loads of people watch/monitor this, like a hawk, ready to report anything the second they find it. If they were doing this, it would be the hottest subject on the social networks, for months.

I don't have any settings in google, because I don't keep google cookies. Also it seems you didn't read my post...

Why with German IP google.com redirects me to google.de, with the UK one it redirects me to google.uk and only with one single European IP redirects me to google.ru? Any ideas?

Especially if google NEVER did that before then time when I was using Chrome from that IP?

Can you explain this "magical trick"?

Location setting in google isn't cookie based... it's google setting based and never turns off until you change it.

Maybe the Euro IP goes through a route that shows it to be Russian? Lots of Euro connections coming from all over Euro actually show up to us as Amsterdam.

Probably a 100 reasons why this would happen and none of them are because of Google Chrome.

I'm not an idiot really and I know what I'm doing. If I said that I never explicitly allowed Chrome to share my location then it means that I really never did it.

Nope. It never been shown (and never is) as Russian by all services like whoer.net, whois.sc, various billings etc... Furthermore, it was never detected as Russian by Google for years until I used Chrome for a few weeks. I don't believe in magic. Do you?

Can you show me at least a couple of such "reasons"?

If you don't have any cookies (you are not connected to your google account), google.com detects your default location by IP only.

Then you just answered the question yourself. Clearly, it's the IP....

I've already listed several reasons, all which are valid reasons. But back to the IP, it could be owned by a different ISP and rented by your ISP.

It's not Chrome itself either way...

Yes it is the IP. Google has associated the European IP with my real location when it got it from Chrome. See what google wrote about location detection by IP:

Now I know how exactly they improve their location detection technology...

Any other reasons are not serious.

There ya go.... :thumbsup

As about the IP. It's the IP of my VPN server. So I know where exactly it is located and which data center owns it. Actually it's not a problem to find this info via special services like robtex.com etc.

Everywhere the information is correct, but only Google now associates that particular IP (not any other from the same block) with my actual location. And this has happened right when I started using Chrome.

You are really a very stubborn person if you can see a simple things... GOOGLE CHROME IS A SPYWARE. PERIOD.

P.S. It seems you forgot that scandal about the google's license agreement for the first release of Chrome...
Here is a link to refresh your memory: http://dondon-tan.blogspot.com/2009/...ou-better.html - read it please.

Huh? The page you just posted, told you 'exactly' how it's happening and why, all of which have nothing to do with Chrome.

Google is a smart mofo.... but no mater who many ways you twist it, it's not Chrome doing it. Monitor the connections, it's that simple... block the Google api and other sub domains various extensions, etc do use... and you'll still get the same results back.

That article also points out that Google often uses the same terms on new software, adjusting them once it gets going...(I do the same thing on every site I own) outside of that, a blog spot blog with an opinion peace on it, isn't really ... worthy information.

And to note, they did change it... and had no technical ability to track/record/inventory either way, so in the end the terms clearly didn't relate.

I dont know about Chrome but I can put in ghostery in firefox and block all those spying softwares that most companies seem to have starting from Google Analystics. I figure that its my business and not anybody's else to note which sites am visiting, for how long, etc. but that's just paranoid me.

Also, if anybody has downloaded FF4, then you will realize the similarities FF and Chrome

Switched from FF to Chrome awhile back when FF was making me pull my hair out. I haven't tried FF since.

I will say firefox.. lot more eaiser and fast + number of plugins..!! to make your work fast.

Excuse me. Could you please quote that part which explains how it's happening and why?

Automatically detected location

To provide you with the most relevant results, Google attempts to automatically detect your location and customize results based on that detected location. A location that's labeled "Auto-detected" is chosen based on the following factors:

Your IP address .
Google Toolbar's My Location feature. If you have Google Toolbar installed and have the My Location feature enabled, your approximate location (if detected) will be used to customize your search results. If you don't want Toolbar to attempt to determine your approximate location, you can turn off My Location
See the wrong location?

We're continuing to improve our location detection technology, and the automatically detected location may be less accurate in certain areas. If you notice an incorrect location, please set your location manually by following the instructions below. If you're being redirected to a Google domain that doesn't match the country you're in (for example, Google.com.au instead of Google.com), please let us know; we may be incorrectly detecting your IP address.




This basically says, they log your IP, and try to figure out where it's coming from, so they can show you custom results. So EVERY IP, is attached to location, correct or not.

They even say they'll manually adjust it if it's wrong... it's 100% based on your IP, and them 'attempting' to figure out the location of EVERY IP that visits them - for the purpose of regional results.

Yes, they always log the IP's but how exactly they can know "where it comes from"? The IP is owned by European data center so it "comes" from the EU and google knew it for years. But once I used Chrome, google forgot that it's an EU IP which is attached to a server located in the EU and by some magical way it decided the IP (and VPN server) is now located in Russia. What exactly make them think so? Of course it was KGB, aliens and Mossad, but 100% not Chrome which has built-in geo location detector, right? :)

It could have been the range... my IP range says i'm in Scottsdale Az, and even when I set myself to Tucson or linkup GEOIP, then turn it off... Google STILL thinks i'm in Scottsdale AZ, which I'm about 3 hours from.

Based on my IP "Range" the other IP's are from that area, not here... being that I'm the only business account on the entire switch in my neighborhood.

I would need to email Google and ask them to update it... OR more people on my range need to start coming in from this area.

It's all very logical... truly, Google is simply that bad ass and that damn good.

I did a test for this.

360449 clicks on this short URL

Internet Explorer - 169846
Chrome - 67920
Firefox - 66094

United States - 149845
Canada - 62977
India - 55978

was mainly facebook traffic, so i guess its a factor on where you're from tbh

Don't you have a feeling that this dispute is pointless? :pimp

Who is disputing?

I've tried other IP's from the same range on the same server. Google recognized their country correctly. As well as it was recognizing it correctly for the that IP before I used Chrome under it.

BTW, I've installed FF4 which looks slick and solid. I like it so far.

You probably have it turned off but there's something called "Experimental location features" in about:flags

The list of about pages are at about:about

I like Chrome much more than FF.

Cool list, even has a crash link: about:crash


about:about

If you go to about:about > about:net-internals > tests and enter a url, chrome actually ends up trying to connect using firefox proxy settings.

Interesting.

Started connection test suite suite on Fri Mar 25 2011 18:57:02 GMT-0300 (Atlantic Daylight Time)

Result Experiment Error Time (ms)
PASS Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Don't use any proxy
7115
PASS Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Use system proxy settings
9168
FAIL Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Use Firefox's proxy settings
-130 2010
PASS Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Auto-detect proxy settings
8685
PASS Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Don't use any proxy
Disable IPv6 host resolving
4096
PASS Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Use system proxy settings
Disable IPv6 host resolving
6416
FAIL Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Use Firefox's proxy settings
Disable IPv6 host resolving
-130 1007
PASS Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Auto-detect proxy settings
Disable IPv6 host resolving
7942
PASS Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Don't use any proxy
Probe for IPv6 host resolving
6508
PASS Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Use system proxy settings
Probe for IPv6 host resolving
4949
FAIL Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Use Firefox's proxy settings
Probe for IPv6 host resolving
-130 2002
PASS Fetch http://porncorporation.com/
Auto-detect proxy settings
Probe for IPv6 host resolving
5497

and FireFox uses some settings from IE too.

If you block internet access for GoogleUpdate.exe it will try to connect using FF and then IE and WinHTTP. My PC event logs are full of that google updater trying to find a way to out.

No doubt Dood, there is a setting to disable update here: about:plugins

Google Update - Version: 1.2.183.39 (Disabled)

This has been a slow rolling out system.... not an instant snap. Very possible they picked up other ip's first, and just over time they figured it was the same.

Maybe something was turned on at first, who knows.. but that doesn't mean they're big brother using the browser to spy on us sending out secret info.

Team GFY surly ins't the only people monitoring this.

Yeah but every other google product uses that same update file. Google says that you have to go thru every one of their products and turn off the updater before it will stop. I did this and it refused to stop so I blocked it at the firewall.

You can never be too sure. It's weird sometimes how things can be discovered that you would think would never be an issue or would have been discovered long ago.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/200...-warner-cable/

Regardless, I am inclined to believe that something else might be going on. I know I have one server in the states but for whatever reason one day Google seemed to think it was located in Thailand. I never investigated the matter further and just presumed that perhaps a group of Thai chatters on a nearby IP still located within the same ARIN allocation had set Thailand for their location and thus made Google think the range was mostly used by people in Thailand. I do think it might be a good idea to run some controlled (that's the keyword here) tests to see exactly what might be occurring.

Your thread title is wrong. Should not be limited to those two as there are more browsers. in that case I would definitely say: Opera

You can't hide online. Everything is monitored.

http://www.moviesonline.ca/wp-conten...-the-state.jpg

What the...

More on it: http://samy.pl/mapxss/. So, it's even possible to get your MAC address via JavaScript.

His example prompts me in Chrome... didn't check in FF.

Firefix look's pretty fucking cool, but when i'm jacking off and i need to close it really fast when someone knocks on my door. That's when i wish it had Chrome close reflexes.

Of course you were asked, because google.maps.com is used there only for demonstration purpose. Seems you didn't read the article right...

It is about stealing your MAC address. This information can be used to find your location with google (the mofo is mapping MAC addresses to actual location). So, find the "Or, you can simply test the Location by entering a router MAC address:" box there, enter some MAC address (e.g.: 12-34-56-78-90-12) click "Search Map" and look at the google map below.