Gmail - Geo location spying ?

I received several emails over the past few days via Gmail. Nobody else i know uses Gmail, so they are not something i usually see.

As i use NoScript & RequestPolicy with very high settings i found that i had to allow certain things through in order to download a file. Amongst some the items i saw listed that wanted to run, were Geo location stuff

Has anyone else noticed this ? And if so how do you handle it etc ?

 

Um, you ARE aware that Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera are ALL set by default to prompt the user whenever a site requests geolocation data, right?

 

I can`t say I`ve seen anything to do with geolocation other than disabling it in Firefox when it first appeared...no requests, emails or anything.

the more they seem to add to Firefox, the more I seem to disable

the config entry is called "geo.enabled"...other than that, I really don`t understand why sites or anyone needs to know even my vague location

 

Let's say that you want pizza. Wouldn't you want pizza locally? Or perhaps you're organizing a flash mob

 

This isn't a FF thread even though i appreciate any input

It's about the fact that there was Gmail geolocate stuff imbedded into an email with an att. that i was retrieving from Hotmail, not Gmail !

I find it very strange that geo stuff from Gmail should be in a Hotmail email ?

If others don't find this odd/disturbing etc, fine, but i do

Geolocation is disabled in Firefox here, but that doesn't affect what Gmail was trying to do.

 

You seem very convinced it was "geolocation stuff". What do you mean by that, and why are you so sure.

 

Because as i said, i saw the alerts for them.

I'm going to log out and see if i still have the email, if so i'll post back with some screenies of exactly what i see.

 

What alerts?

If you had geolocation disabled in Fx, it will deny geolocation requests silently and not prompt you at all, while NoScript certainly has no such thing as a geolocation warning, at least not last I checked.

 

The ones i mentioned in my first post From the the RequestPolicy add on in FF

Anyway, bloody typical i logged into Hotmail and the email is still there. I tried various allows to various NoScript & RequestPolicy alerts, but this time no Gmail stuff ?

I wonder if it's because once i had DL'd it the first time that was enough ?

Well i'm not satisfied, so i'm going to ask someone to send me another Gmail email with att. and hopefully grab some screenies to post.

I know what i saw, that's why i started this thread. I'm NOT saying i was just sure i saw what i did, i KNOW i did = Fact.

 

Um, no, RequestPolicy doesn't have such a thing as a geolocation alert either. It's just meant to control CSRF exploits, and that's it.

 

I know it doesn't have a specific geo alert, i never said it did

What i saw was Gmail geo something or other mentioned in either the NoScript alerts or in the RequestPolicy ones. I'm certain it was RequestPolicy though, but either way i saw several.

I had to click on the icon on my taskbar to see them, and then allow.

I've PM'd someone and asked for a send, and as soon as i get it, i'll post what i find.

 

Is it in a troll's TOS to pretend they haven't read the first post?

 

Yes, please do. I'm sure Poosey would be more than willing to lend you a hand.

 

Someone very kindly sent me a Gmail email with att. to try and replicate the other one. This time i saw no geo stuff ?

The other Gmail email came from a "certain" person on a "certain" forum www, not this one, and via someone elses PM email, not theirs

I'm wondering if that "might" have something to do with it, if not they could "possibly" have tinkered with something hoping to geo locate me ? Not that i'm bothered as this person is OK and i trust them, but is VERY clever and anything techy is possible with this person, who "could" have done it, just because they can !

That's all presuming it would be possible for them to do that with Gmail. If not i'm at a loss to explain the Geo stuff i Definately saw. I might never see it again, but i DID see it. If i do i'll let you know, as i want to know.