How do your favorite apps and sites locate you? (and how to block them with a VPN)
This article is sponsored by ExpressVPN Check out our transparency charter to find out more.
Targeted ads, location suggestions visited, geo-censored content: the clues that testify to an active geolocation on the Internet are numerous ...
But position sharing is not inevitable and several solutions exist to partially or totally block the access to location data, thus allowing better protect your anonymity and privacy.
Transparent on its name, geolocation is a process which delivers information on the geographic coordinates of a fixed or moving object, and which therefore makes it possible to locate it on a map at a given moment. The history positions can be logged in and consulted later, or communicated to a geolocation software for the use of data in real time. This is for example the case of GPS applications like Google Maps or Waze.
The degree of precision of the geolocation depends essentially on the technique used: geocoding (a few dozen meters), satellite / GPS (10 to 100 meters), GSM (200 meters to several kilometers depending on the density of the antennas), Wi-Fi (around ten meters depending on the power of the available Wi-Fi terminals), address IP (country / region / city) or RFID (1 meter within defined interior perimeter).
In addition to the finesse of the localization, it It is also necessary to take into account the transmission of data in real time. Thus, the geolocation by geocoding does not allow the tracking of a moving object. Therefore, the geolocation by IP address is far too imprecise to hope to know the location exact from a PC or smartphone.RFID is restricted to a clearly defined area while GSM and Wi-Fi networks depend on the availability of antennas and terminals nearby.
Finally, you should know that the combination of several of these techniques greatly improves the precision of the geolocation. This is why the tracking system of a smartphone can suggest to the user to allow the applications to use the GSM network, Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth in addition to GPS.
The IP address can also be used by the services and websites consulted. Although it broadcasts imprecise location information, it nevertheless gives a rough idea of the Internet user's connection area, from country to city. Some sprawling companies even go so far as to link data acquired over IP with data collected through other services they own. The most striking example is that of Google which, thanks to the tracking and history ofThe Google Maps positions can precisely know the position of an Internet user using the firm's search engine.
Less informed than Google, websites also access the public IP address of their visitors. Some even ask the browser permission to access a more precise geolocation. If necessary, the user is notified of the request and accepts, or not, to share his The agreement given applies to all future visits and can be manually modified via the site connection parameters (padlock icon or "i" circled in the address bar). You should know that this information can be communicated to advertisers, serve to refine user profiles and result in targeted advertising.
Regarding access to geolocation data, mobile applications are proving to be more intrusive. Equipped with GPS chips, connected to GSM, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks, smartphones and tablets are real walking cookies. And it is by allowing downloaded apps to access all of these settings that we no longer have to fear for the protection of our privacy.
It is important to understand that location data accessible to websites, applications and online services are not all dependent on third parties. There are obviously those automatically provided by the ISP and which one communicates involuntarily (via theIP address), those that we can attempt to mechanically block (permissions to access position sharing with the sites visited and apps installed), and those that we give voluntarily, consciously or unconsciously, (check-in on social networks, browsing history, metadata contained by photos published online). As part of the fight against geolocation, it is obviously essential to start by modifying your browsing habits by avoiding sharing your location data as much as possible and by regularly erasing your browsing history.
How to block your location sharing?
As we have seen, on the Internet, it is partially possible to prevent the sharing of its geographical coordinatesues with the sites and services that we consult. All you have to do is deny the sharing permissions sent by publishers to browsers. However, the geolocation data provided by the IP address cannot under any circumstances remain confidential. Browsers, search engines and websites can always get a quick idea of where people are.
On smartphone or tablet, preventing applications from accessing GPS as well as GSM, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks also allows you to better preserve their personal information relating to their location. Keep in mind, however, that some apps require location sharing to work properly.
We do not forget that a little turn on the side ofs Device location settings can be helpful. Indeed, in the event that the criteria for improving accuracy are activated, it should be understood that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks are used, even when they are deactivated.
How to cheat sites and applications in its geographic location?
If it is impossible to completely block access to its geolocation, there are third-party solutions designed to confuse the issue. This is particularly the case of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks, or virtual private in French) which, by redirecting traffic to servers scattered all over the world, offer to fool sites and applications on thegeographic location of Internet users.
Concretely, when a user connects to a VPN, his traffic is not sent directly to the site or the service he is trying to reach, but passes through the VPN provider's servers. In order to ensure the confidentiality of connection data, they are most often encrypted on the local machine before going through a secure virtual tunnel. They are then decrypted on the VPN servers which assign them a new IP address before being sent back to the destination of the request. In short, the real IP address and geolocation are only known to the ISP who knows that such and such a user is communicating with a VPN. On the other hand, the connection information (date, time, sites and web pages consulted, time of visit) are no longer accessible to him.
After the VPN servers, no platform is able to identify the user at the origin of the Even better, most VPNs offer Internet users the ability to select a server in a specific country. For example, ExpressVPN provides its subscribers with some 3,000 servers in 94 countries.
In addition to preserving the secrecy of its real location, the disparity of servers around the world is advantageous for bypassing geocensorship in all its forms, whether it is to access media blocked in totalitarian countries or to profit from its Netflix overseas catalog.
Finally, while it would be tempting toOppose it to use a decentralized and distributed network like Tor or Freenet, a VPN is often easier to set up and use. Moreover, while Tor and Freenet only protect traffic passing through their respective networks, a VPN like ExpressVPN guarantees extended coverage of terminals, operating systems, software and mobile applications connected to the Internet.
This post is sponsored by ExpressVPN Check out our transparency charter to find out more.
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