My knee-jerk reaction to this question was “uh, no, how would they do that?” but upon further investigation, Google Maps can indeed figure out where you are located if you grant location information sharing in your Web browser. Not only that, but at least when I tried it, it was astonishingly accurate, nailing my location down to about 10-feet!
Turns out that location aware services have been proliferating on the Web for a while, but because it’s an inexact science and because a lot of people are understandably a bit paranoid about tracking (didja know that “tracking” is the most common word associated with “cellphone” searches in Google?) I think a lot of these services are still flying under the radar.
Let me show you how it works with Apple’s Safari browser, then we’ll see that it’s a bit different in other browsers…
That’s a pretty common view from Google Maps, with the navigational control elements that show up on the left side. I’ve highlighted one, though, one that I bet you haven’t even noticed: the small empty circle.
Click on it and, in Safari at least, a window pops up letting you know that the site is requesting location information from the browser:
To proceed, I click on “Allow” and watch as it spins for about 20 seconds or so. Then, to my amazement, it exactly nails my location at a Starbucks in Broomfield, CO:
That’s it. Pretty cool, eh?
If you were to ask for your location to be mapped while in Firefox or Google Chrome, by contrast, you’ll get a warning bar similar to this (from Firefox):
Okay with this? Click on “Allow”. If you click on “Learn More…”, by the way, you’ll meet the Firefox location scout (does this have a real name? It’s kinda cute):
Wondering how it actually works? According to Firefox’s help FAQ, browser-based location aware browsing identification is done by the browser sending three pieces of information:
- nearby wireless access points (e.g. wifi devices),
- your computer’s assigned IP address, and
- a randomly assigned system identifier which is used to keep track of you for a week or two (if you consent to use location services)
Seems fairly benign to me and my cellphone is already tracking every place I go anyway…
Still, you might want to disable location services once you have tried it. The technique is different in each browser (of course), but in Google Chrome, for example, go to Preferences –> Under the Hood, then click on “Content settings…”. You’ll see this:
Tweak and modify to your heart’s content!
Tried location services and it couldn’t find you? See if you can figure out a pattern (public vs. private locations, a single access point visible versus a half-dozen) and report in on this thread!
4 thoughts on “Can Google Maps figure out my current location?”
Oh dear. I tried my current Location on different browsers – Mac and iPad. The Current Default location is different than My Current Location. I am aware of this. Each browser has its own way of looking at my current location. Tried Safari, Chrome and Firefox. One shows I am located near Anaheim, and the other two are close – one shows my neighbor’s backyard which is like 100 feet off, and the other shows 2 neighbor’s off in the backyard.
I tried this on Safari and Maps on iPad. In the past it used to show somewhere in Central California, but 3-4 weeks back I had requested an update to the DB. But even then on my iPad I am still located in my neighor’s backyard which is a good 100 feet away from where I am located.
So be it for accuracy.
Very Interesting!
It found my wifi laptop within about 50 feet. My desktop, while using the same IP address, could only be narrowed down to about half of my state.
I guess when that Google van is driving around taking pictures for street view, they are also scanning for wifi networks. Very sneaky!
G’Day Dave Taylor,
Thanks again for great information.
Site Design? Stick to simplicity fast loading and ease of use.
Great Branding by the way.
Reg
Osm Dave. Great Find.
P.S. When are you gonna change this boring ‘high school’ type site design?