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why is my location showing someplace i am not? this is occuring on varoius aps and internet sites, not on maps or GPS directional sites.

why is my location showing someplace i am not? this is ocuring on varoius aps and internet sites, but not on maps or GPS directional sites. Started on my I-Pad and is now on my I-phone, MAC and showing up on my wife's devices. Extremely irritating and invasive!

iMac, OS X 10.11

Posted on Aug 11, 2022 8:38 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 11, 2022 8:46 AM

It will depend on several factors, one of which is how they are determining location. It may be based on a database of known WiFi networks near you, that may not be entirely up to date. It may be based on cell tower triangulation in the case of a phone, which may be off by several miles. It my be based on the public IP address issued to your router by your ISP, in which case the location may be many miles or even several states away from you depending on where the egress from their network to the Internet is.


Lastly, if you are using a VPN, the location may not be anywhere near accurate as it is expressly designed to hide your location, etc.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 11, 2022 8:46 AM in response to Wa1nutt

It will depend on several factors, one of which is how they are determining location. It may be based on a database of known WiFi networks near you, that may not be entirely up to date. It may be based on cell tower triangulation in the case of a phone, which may be off by several miles. It my be based on the public IP address issued to your router by your ISP, in which case the location may be many miles or even several states away from you depending on where the egress from their network to the Internet is.


Lastly, if you are using a VPN, the location may not be anywhere near accurate as it is expressly designed to hide your location, etc.

why is my location showing someplace i am not? this is occuring on varoius aps and internet sites, not on maps or GPS directional sites.

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