Geolocation software

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Geolocation software is used to determine the location of people or systems. On the Internet, for example, an IP address can be assigned to a country, an organization and / or specific users, and the location can then be inferred. Other geolocation options include examining the MAC address , credit card information, or IPTC information .

Data sources

There are a large number of databases for geolocation software, some of which are subject to a fee. The information here ranges from state to location, although the accuracy varies (generally it is higher at the state level). These databases typically contain information about the IP address (es) which can be used by firewalls, advertising servers, websites and other automated systems where geolocation could be useful. As an alternative to providing and querying a database, country codes of a specific IP address can be determined using a DNS query.

The main sources of IP address data are the regional internet registries , which assign the IP addresses to the organizations in their respective regions or distribute them among them:

Secondary sources include:

  • Data mining or location data specified by the user. For example, a weather forecast website may ask visitors for a place name to display a local forecast. Furthermore, address information of a user account can be used in connection with an IP address.
  • Data provided by Internet service providers .
  • The combination of information from databases from different providers.
  • Estimates based on IP range and / or number of network hops .

Ways to improve accuracy:

  • Recognizing and (if possible) correcting obviously incorrect results
  • Statistical analysis of information from various users

privacy

In general, a distinction can be made between cooperative and non- cooperative geolocation. In some cases it is in the interests of users to be precisely located so that appropriate information based on their location can be provided to them. In other cases this is not desired, for example for reasons of data protection.

Technical measures to maintain anonymity , such as proxies , can be used to circumvent restrictions imposed by geolocation software. Some websites recognize the use of proxies and anonymizers and can either refuse the service or provide non-location-bound information.

Applications

Geolocation techniques have only been developed since 1999 ; the first patents were granted in 2004 . The techniques are widely used in electronics retail, banking, media, online gaming, and law enforcement, among others, to prevent online fraud, ensure compliance, manage data rights, and marketing and To be able to implement price policy in a target-oriented manner.

Criminal investigations

Banks, software providers and other online companies are now subject to strict regulations for checking new customers (“ know your customer ”), which have been set by various authorities in Europe and the USA. These regulations are intended to prevent money laundering, business with terrorist organizations and trade with certain countries. By determining the actual location of visitors to a website, geolocation can protect banks from participating in transfers of funds for illegal purposes.

Detection of fraud

Geolocation can help detect credit card fraud by comparing the place where an order was placed with the owner's registration address. Any discrepancy could be a scam. Banks can use a user's location as part of authentication to help prevent phishing , money laundering, and other security risks. If the place and time of two consecutive registration processes are related to one another, one can conclude that there is abusive behavior if it is impossible to overcome the calculated distance in the measured period.

Governments, law enforcement and security companies use geolocation as a tool to track the data paths of online fraudsters, track down the criminals, and prevent future attacks from that location.

censorship

There are proposals that the legislature should order the use of geolocation software in order to find providers of illegal web content or to ensure compliance with international trade agreements.

Geomarketing

Because geolocation software can determine the location of a user, companies can use geomarketing to offer web content or products that are useful in the region. Advertising can thus be tailored to the user.

Regional licensing

Online video retailers and providers of live streams, for example for sports events, are only allowed to make their offers available to certain contractually defined regions. By localizing the viewers, the providers can be sure to adhere to licensing regulations. Even online casinos need to know the location of their subscribers, as otherwise there is a risk of violating laws of certain states that prohibit online gambling.

Location-dependent content

Through geotargeting, websites can display content that varies depending on the location, so google.com redirects to google.de when the page is accessed from Germany. In various European countries, Google or Yahoo! does not show any results with negationist content.

Combating Spam

Despite some controversies use some ISP geolocation to spam to prevent. Some countries are known to have little or no legal action against spam; With the help of geolocation software, Internet service providers can identify or mark news and contributions from these countries.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nitke against Ashcroft - Expert Report by Seth Finkelstein ( English ), 10 November 2003. Retrieved on November 15 of 2004.
  2. ↑ RealNetworks recognizes proxies and anonymizers; Google provides non-location-based information if the location information is not reliable. Geolocation: Don't Fence Web In ( English ) Wired. July 12, 2004. Archived from the original on May 14, 2006. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 31, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / wired-vig.wired.com