Facebook Uses IP Address and Other Info to Deliver Location-Based Ads Even When Location Options are Disabled

[mdatwood]

Server-side tracking. Your project only impacts network requests made by your client(s).

Drop the aggression.

Yep. People do not realize that when a request is made to a server, the IP address is clearly visible. Sometimes you can even see all of the proxies/NATs a request even went through. There are companies that sell IP databases that map IPs to locations. They update the databases almost daily to keep up with changes. IME, they are pretty accurate down to a city level, except cell phones b/c of how data going through a cell tower ends up on the internet. It may travel to another state before a public IP is attached.

 

[curtvaughan]

This is the nice thing about using a VPN. I get targeted ads but none of them are anywhere close to where I live. And when I say nowhere close, I'm talking out of state close.

At home, if I'm concerned about location tracking, I turn off wifi and connect to my router via cat-5 internet, and use a reliable VPN. The VPN obscures IP location tracking and turning off wireless removes radio signal triangulation. I note that the "Find My iPhone" on iCloud.com returns "1 device online, but cannot be located" with the ethernet-only/VPN setup in place. Of course, with current mega-data collection collected via websites fairly accurate location estimates can be deduced with a bit of effort. Even if using VPN for multiple devices - say if my mobile phone is online - location of the mobile phone can be deduced from cell towers with or without VPN, and approximation of your ethernet source location can be discovered. Until ISP's and mobile service providers, as well as websites, are regulated to prohibit non-warranted data collection, we're all mostly vulnerable to location tracking.
[doublepost=1545237205][/doublepost]

Not evil. Not unique to Facebook. Many ad-based businesses utilize complex user fingerprinting to very accurately guess who's in front of the screen.

I think Amazon is the most obviously egregious with this. Regardless of source location obscuration at the network level, they can surmise your location and identity via your credit card / PayPal / bank information. They offer product suggestions based upon both your purchase patterns and click patterns. They are still successful because of the simplicity of purchasing products from their website, and the efficiency of their deliveries. I buy computer equipment, Kindle books and pulp books, as well as video streaming services from Amazon. I might as well put a billboard outside my house announcing who I am. You can track nearly anyone with background discovery services purchased from sites like MyLife.com. It really is ubiquitous.
[doublepost=1545237734][/doublepost]

But still you get fooled by FB. As long you support them, nothing will change. Some services like Google Search clearly can hardly be avoided, FB surely is none of them.

It's really true that convenience nearly always trumps privacy. FB is not only a social network. It can also be used (as can Google) for authentication to banks and other commercial and forum services - it's much more convenient than remembering individual username/passwords. Purchasing products online is much more efficient and convenient than shopping at brick-and-mortar establishments (and even then, you are generally tracked via your mobile phones, CCTV, and credit card transactions).
[doublepost=1545239037][/doublepost]Here's food for thought for those who worry about location tracking -

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...YTYV9WfWqx6E6__ZShb7UUCjX1Go4k5KkMP9vkF9DNahA

 

[Rocko99991]

They are doing a lot more than this.

 

[macduke]

Why isn't continue using it and continue complaining an option?

Because they keep making money and the only language they speak is money.

 

[jakebrosy]

Ok. That's it! I'm officially done.

I deleted the apps from my devices and submitted a request to close my personal and professional Facebook accounts. In 30 days Facebook will be down to 2,270,999,998 accounts. That'll show 'em!

And, while I'm against government regulation in general, I completely agree with David Cicilline, Mark Warner, and others in coming up with an enforceable, ultra-high penalty, privacy law. The GDPR is a great template...meaning you lazy congressional nitwits: someone else has done the work for you. All you have to do now is take the credit.

 

[justperry]

I think what's more concerning here is that Facebook offers options to turn location services off and then continues to track you by other means for ad targeting purposes regardless of the settings you've picked.

I predict trouble for Facebook in the EU.

GDPR

If, like me, you have to use FaceBook to maintain contact with family and friends spread across the world, but you don't use it very frequently, look into using a VPN. Some services offer a free tier that may be more than enough bandwidth if you just pop on for 15 minutes a week to find out who's died or been born.

You don't need facebook, it's only in your head, there are other ways like email for instance, iMessage, signal/Telegram....

 

[Mr Staunton]

Naughty Facebook.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

You're referring to browser-based geolocation (via JavaScript in this browser), and this has nothing to do with your internet protocol address (ie. IP Address), assigned to you by your internet provider. If your internet provider is based in Chicago, your IP address can be used to locate you somewhere in Chicago, and serve up relevant ads or search results. That happens completely separate from your devices.

Not sure what you think you are trying to say...

My comment is EXCEEDINGLY simple. In response to someone claiming that when they get Google search results, they are automatically location based- I’m saying that I do not. I’m offered the choice for them to be location based.
Therefore, if I say “no” & I’m searching for Napa auto parts, for example, I’ll get their corporate site, stock info, etc. rather than directions to & the phone # of my local store... even if it’s directly across the street.

 

[Slix]

You should start using Apple products! =)

You’ll have an ENTIRELY different experience!!!

Example:
If I am looking up Walmart to do online shopping OR to call my local store; I can type “Walmart” into the Safari omnibar... Google then ASKS MY PERMISSION “would you like your location used for this search”- depending on which I was trying to go to, I can hit yes or no.
That has been my experience each & every time I look up local stores for years on end...

I do use Safari. My point is that if you search something like Walmart, it auto-uses your "internet address" to find your approximate location, even without the prompt to use location services.

See: (location removed for privacy. )

 

[jeremiah256]

You don't need facebook, it's only in your head, there are other ways like email for instance, iMessage, signal/Telegram....

You are listing apps that are primarily used for communication. Like it or not, Facebook excels as a social app. Post little Timmy’s graduation from Grade School on Facebook and you’re done. It’s in the timeline forever, verses creating and maintaining lists and spamming out announcements. Now grandma also has to worry about where or how to file the video.

 

[Abazigal]

You are listing apps that are primarily used for communication. Like it or not, Facebook excels as a social app. Post little Timmy’s graduation from Grade School on Facebook and you’re done. It’s in the timeline forever, verses creating and maintaining lists and spamming out announcements. Now grandma also has to worry about where or how to file the video.

I think moving forward, people will need to learn to be more discerning about what they do share about themselves online. Do you really need to broadcast the news of your child’s kindergarten party to everyone in your social circle?

 

[jeremiah256]

I think moving forward, people will need to learn to be more discerning about what they do share about themselves online. Do you really need to broadcast the news of your child’s kindergarten party to everyone in your social circle?

If they want to, why not? Most of what makes life great is not about the 'needs' (food, safety, shelter) but being able to fulfill some of your 'wants'.

I personally dislike Facebook. But, many of my friends and relatives like it. My decision is that it would be arrogant and unreasonable of me to try and make this majority give up an experience they enjoy because I have a distaste for Facebook's leadership, policies, and processes.

 

[Abazigal]

If they want to, why not? Most of what makes life great is not about the 'needs' (food, safety, shelter) but being able to fulfill some of your 'wants'.

I personally dislike Facebook. But, many of my friends and relatives like it. My decision is that it would be arrogant and unreasonable of me to try and make this majority give up an experience they enjoy because I have a distaste for Facebook's leadership, policies, and processes.

The problem then comes when companies like facebook are so opaque about the data they gather from you, and what they subsequently do with it. We are now only starting to see the type of nonsense that Facebook has been up to with regards to the data it was collected from us over the past 10 years, and this is likely still only the tip of the iceberg.

If facebook isn’t going to change, then maybe it’s the users who need to (and will). I wonder if down the road, people might become more discerning and conservative about they do decide to share with their peers online.

Not saying that people will start deleting Facebook from their phones, but posts will have to become more deliberate and purposeful.

 

[jeremiah256]

Not saying that people will start deleting Facebook from their phones, but posts will have to become more deliberate and purposeful.

Unfortunately, I doubt this. One reason I read but rarely post on Facebook is that it seems designed to bring out the worst in some people. I don't go on at all during the month of elections. Otherwise, I pop on once a week, see that third cousin Albert is still alive and that my college buddy's kid now has a new tooth growing in, and I get off. No drama, minimum info for Facebook to use, zero interaction with their ads.

 

[justperry]

You are listing apps that are primarily used for communication. Like it or not, Facebook excels as a social app. Post little Timmy’s graduation from Grade School on Facebook and you’re done. It’s in the timeline forever, verses creating and maintaining lists and spamming out announcements. Now grandma also has to worry about where or how to file the video.

Doesn't change anything, you don't need Facebook, you can share photo's with real friends in other ways, like setting up a private website, share them through mail or you know...invite them to your house.
Plenty of friends on Facebook which aren't your friends.

 

[jeremiah256]

Doesn't change anything, you don't need Facebook, you can share photo's with real friends in other ways, like setting up a private website, share them through mail or you know...invite them to your house.
Plenty of friends on Facebook which aren't your friends.

If this works for you, great. But you are an exception. Most people don't want to set up private websites, maintain email listings, and most of us don't live near the majority of our family and friends. We choose to use social media.

 

[TallManNY]

You’re still broadcasting your IP if you are using a web browser versus an app.

Everyone is locatable from so-called anonymized and aggregated data. For example, how many people follow the same location points that you do for your daily commute and weekly habits? It’s almost trivial to de-anonymize all the purportedly private data that advertising companies have collected and sold. Turning off location services only partially helps as illustrated by this discussion.

The sad thing is that it’s literally impossible to escape the pervasive tracking that underpins the business model of the internet. Facebook, for example, has invested credit reports and created ghost profiles of people not even on the platform.

Nothing will change until we have legislated consumer protection laws and massive, massive civil suits. And even then, those minuscule actions are probably too late.
[doublepost=1545221307][/doublepost]I’d also add: how many of the people on this thread are financial supporters of Macrumors? If you don’t like advertising and the egregious privacy violating practices it has encouraged, consider actually supporting the sites you frequent. It’s a start at least.

It is trivial to connect location data to a real person. There isn't anything almost about it. My name is on the deed to my house. And besides which I tell businesses where I live all the time. There are only a limited number of people who regularly go to and from my house. Figuring out which of those cellphones is mine would be easy. So anyone with access to this location data can track me. They can also write a script that looks for unusually movement behavior. Doing it is easy. The only defense right now is to hope that no one with access to that data has any motivation to use it against you.