[wfg]

Couldn’t they still get a location from the user’s IP address?

One example I saw is that a user was near panicking because when asked if the AI had access to their location, the AI said it didn’t. However, it was able to tell them the nearest McDonalds. Just thinking, if I had your IP (e.g. the source IP of a request to my server), I could find a “nearest” McDonalds.

[harry8]

So it claims it doesn't have the user's location. Then when it needs to use the user's location to do something it does have the users location without asking for it because something something IP address might be how it has the information it stated unequivocally it did not have.

It either does not have it or it is lying. Clearly snapchat is lying here. No wiggle room. None.

Snapchat, is using the software to tell snapchat customers deliberate lies.

Normally that sort of thing brings the lawyers but this is "with a computer" so does that mean it's somehow ok?

[PeterisP]

That makes some sense for PCs connected to some kind of landline, but IMHO if you have the source IP of a mobile device running Snapchat, in most setups you'd only be able to determine their cell phone network provider, the IP address seen upon exiting the mobile network control plane shouldn't expose the cell tower or anything else, the IP connections (and thus the address) of the device should even stay the same as it moves from one city to another.

[cyanydeez]

Google et al track wifi locations and use that to identify locations.

[exeldapp]

I’ve seen that and also seen that if you ask it for the nearest Mcdonald’s and then ask how it got that it will say it used your IP address. I haven’t seen anyone test it by spoofing their IP, yet.

[rchaud]

IP is not used for user geolocation (or at least it shouldn't be) because it can be spoofed, e.g. via VPN connections.

[minimaxir]

For analytics purposes, indeed IP isn't used for that reason (although nowadays IP is sparsely used at all in analytics due to legal PII risks), but for responses to a "what's nearby?", it'll generally be relevant despite the possibility of VPNs.

[fourseventy]

IP addresses are used for that all the time...