Internet probe tracks to within 690 metres

CloneRanger · Apr 8, 2011

Spooky

Internet probe can track you down to within 690 metres

Online adverts could soon start stalking you. A new way of working out where you are by looking at your internet connection could pin down your current location to within a few hundred metres.

Similar techniques are already in use, but they are much less accurate. Every computer connected to the web has an internet protocol (IP) address, but there is no simple way to map this to a physical location. The current best system can be out by as much as 35 kilometres.

Now, Yong Wang, a computer scientist at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Chengdu, and colleagues at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, have used businesses and universities as landmarks to achieve much higher accuracy.

*

Client independent

That kind of accuracy normally requires people to deliberately disclose their location, but Wang's method works without the user's permission. "This is a client-independent method," as he puts it. "The client does not need to approve anything."

http://www.newscientist.com/article...-can-track-you-down-to-within-690-metres.html
Click to expand...

dw426 · Apr 8, 2011

Of course they'd create this in China, lol. Stuff like this shows why ad blockers aren't such a bad idea after all.

J_L · Apr 8, 2011

Another of the many good reasons to block ads online.

SteveTX · Apr 8, 2011

This is a little dirty. But there are much worse systems out there, like the automatic geolocation recording that cellphone providers perform.

dw426 · Apr 8, 2011

SteveTX said:

This is a little dirty. But there are much worse systems out there, like the automatic geolocation recording that cellphone providers perform.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and unlike malicious/annoying ads, these other methods get little to no publicity. Instead millions are being watched/tracked without the slightest clue.

PJC · Apr 9, 2011

Now, I love ABP even more...

x942 · Apr 9, 2011

SteveTX said:

This is a little dirty. But there are much worse systems out there, like the automatic geolocation recording that cellphone providers perform.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Even though it is necessary for that geolocation to take place (so the towers can place/connect the call) they should allow you to opt-in to having it removed every 'X' minutes or so. The other scary part is that based on WiFi location I can pinpoint my ipad or ipod touch to my street even though I bought this router a month ago :S I am glad to disable location as much as possible.

lotuseclat79 · Apr 12, 2011

Related article: New geotracking technology could make you easier to find.

Currently, advertisers are only able to access and track your current location online to a radius of 35 kilometers without your permission. However, as presented at the Usenix Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation in Boston last week, Yong Wang, a computer scientist at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, has developed a three-stage system that would allow advertisers and others the ability to track your location to within a few hundred meters.

All of this information can be gathered without an individual’s permission. The only way to avoid being tracked is to go through a proxy server. The system is unable to go around this, however, it is able to detect a proxy server and will flag the test as unable to locate.
Click to expand...

-- Tom

Log in or Sign up

Internet probe tracks to within 690 metres

CloneRanger Registered Member

dw426 Registered Member

J_L Registered Member

SteveTX Registered Member

dw426 Registered Member

PJC Very Frequent Poster

x942 Guest

lotuseclat79 Registered Member

Log in or Sign up

Internet probe tracks to within 690 metres

CloneRanger Registered Member

dw426 Registered Member

J_L Registered Member

SteveTX Registered Member

dw426 Registered Member

PJC Very Frequent Poster

x942 Guest

lotuseclat79 Registered Member

Useful Searches