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This extension allows enjoying geolocation applications while protecting your privacy, by reporting a fake location to websites, after adding a certain amount of "noise" to the real one. The...
This extension allows enjoying geolocation applications while protecting your privacy, by reporting a fake location to websites, after adding a certain amount of "noise" to the real one. The noise is randomly selected in a way that protects the real location from being accurately inferred.
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Mar 18, 2022 · Download Location Guard for Firefox. Hide your geographic location from websites. Report a fake location with the addition of random noise in order to protect your privacy. Per site settings with three configurable levels of accuracy or even the possibility to use a fixed location.
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- Overview
- Frequently Asked Questions
Location Guard is a browser extension that allows to protect your location while using location-aware websites, by adding controlled noise to it. It supports the followng browsers:
•Google Chrome / Chromium (install)
•Mozilla Firefox (install)
•Microsoft Edge (install)
•Opera (install)
Location Guard is available under either the MIT/X11 or the CeCILL-B license.
What is Location Guard?
Websites can ask the browser for your location (via JavaScript). When they do so, the browser first asks your permission, and if you accept, it detects your location (typically by transmitting a list of available wifi access points to a geolocation provider such as Google Location Services, or via GPS if available) and gives it to the website. Location Guard is a browser extension that intercepts this procedure. The permission dialog appears as usual, and you can still choose to deny. If you give permission, then Location Guard obtains your location and adds "random noise" to it, creating a fake location. Only the fake location is then given to the website. To see Location Guard in action use this demo, a geolocalized weather forecast, or go to Google Maps and press the button. When the website asks for your location you will see the the icon in the address bar (which also provides configuration options).
What kind of privacy does Location Guard provide?
Location Guard provides privacy within a certain protection area by ensuring that all locations within this area look plausible for being the real one. This is achieved by adding random noise in a way such that all locations within the protection area can produce the same fake location with similar probability. As a consequence, the fake location provides no information to the website for distinguishing between locations within the protection area. Warning: background knowledge can still be used by websites to guess the real location within the protection area. For instance, if the protection area is in the middle of a lake containing only a small island, it will be easy to infer that the real location is on the island. In scenarios like this you should choose a higher privacy level or deny disclosing your location at all.
What are "privacy levels"?
The privacy level determines the amount of noise added to your real location. A higher level adds more noise, so the fake location will be further away from the real one. This offers protection within a larger area, but it might make the service provided by the website less useful. By default all websites use the "medium" level (this can be changed from the extension's options). You can select a different level for a specific website using the icon. For instance, you could select a lower privacy level for websites that need an accurate location (eg. maps), and a higher one for websites that only need approximate information (eg. weather forecast). For more flexibility, each level can be configured from the Privacy Levels tab. The red circle is the protection area: locations in this area look plausible to be the real one (see "What kind of privacy does Location Guard provide?" above). The blue circle is the accuracy: the fake location will be inside this circle with high probability (note that the noise is random). Use the slider to adapt the two areas to your needs.
Jun 11, 2020 · The best way to hide your location is by using one of the many free VPN services that protect your privacy. However, you can also fake your location in Google Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge by manually changing your location, or by using an extension.
- Former Editor
May 27, 2024 · Spoof time zone, geolocation, locale and user agent. Match your location data to your VPN's ip address.
Jul 11, 2021 · Using this guide, you can easily hide or spoof your location in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox and prevent websites from geopositioning you on the internet and serving you targeted...
