iCloud.com login puts me at wrong location

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Level 1

26 points

iCloud.com login puts me at wrong location

When trying to sign into iCloud.com with Safari on my late 2008 macbook pro (running El Capitan very nicely) it comes up with a message saying someone is trying to log into my account from a location 200 miles from where I am (which is my home address). However, the "find my mac/iphone app" puts my macbook at the correct location, and google maps always know where I am so my Macbook location service seems to be working ok. Is this just a bug or something more concerning? NB My Macbook has never been anywhere remotely near the false location 200 miles away.

OBS MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2008), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Nov 30, 2016 8:05 AM

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Answer 1

colinwg Author

Level 1

26 points

Nov 30, 2016 10:28 AM in response to zinacef

Thank you very much for a swift and helpful response. I didn't realise "approximate location" could be that far adrift even based on an IP address: other web resources show my location to within 3 miles based only on IP address, so 200 miles seems extremely approximate (actually quite useless). Still, I only get the message when I am actively logging into iCloud, which tends to support your comment. Once again, I'm very grateful for your considered response.

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