[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       opensuse
Subject:    Re: [opensuse] Firefox Location-Aware Browsing ?
From:       John Layt <johnlayt () googlemail ! com>
Date:       2014-07-02 14:10:44
Message-ID: CAM1DM6m-yGPUrUgGP19gKsqK7n=RdQeYGxj2a+GjgyX5RRf4OQ () mail ! gmail ! com
[Download RAW message or body]

On 1 July 2014 13:20, Per Jessen <per@computer.org> wrote:
> John Layt wrote:
>>> This is the interesting bit then - what does my browser know about my
>>> location?
>>
>> It knows whatever the OS knows and is willing to tell the browser
>> about.
>
> Sure, but what kind of information are we talking about?  I don't
> imagine my openSUSE knows much more about my location than it's private
> (RFC1918) IP-address.  For a smartphone with all the nifty little
> devices (compass, gps, wifi, accelerometer, altimeter etc), I imagine
> there is lots of info to be had.

But Firefox doesn't *know* that you are running it on an OpenSUSE box
that only has a standard ethernet port plugged into a DSL router with
a dynamic external IP address (which is easy to find out, don't assume
the browser doesn't know it).  When the Firefox devs write the code
they have to assume that all levels of detail are available and take
the necessary precautions.  In fact, the standard *requires* them to
do so.

> I've only seen the browser ask this once or twice, but as I'm pretty
> certain my browser knows very little about my location (apart from what
> can be determined/deduced from my IPv4 address), I just got curious.

You'll only see it if a) the browser implements the HTML5 Geolocation
API and b) the website sends a request for your location.

John.
-- 
To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org
To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]