How websites track your location even after you block location permissions: IP, Wi-Fi, and cell tower signals
By
Afam Onyimadu
Summary
The article discusses how even after blocking location permissions on websites, browsers can still approximate a user's location through three alternative signals: IP address geolocation, Wi-Fi network triangulation, and cell tower data. The author shares their personal experience discovering these tracking methods and explains how browsers voluntarily share rough location data through these signals, undermining user privacy efforts. The piece provides technical insights into how these tracking mechanisms work and offers practical advice on additional steps users can take to protect their location privacy beyond just blocking standard location permissions.
Source
bskyHow websites track your location even after you block location permissions: IP, Wi-Fi, and cell tower signalsmakeuseof.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledMy browser was still volunteering a rough answer anyway.
I blocked location permissions on every site but websites were still tracking me through 3 other signals I hadn't considered.
Even after taking what I thought were comprehensive privacy measures, my location was still being approximated through signals I didn't know about.
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