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by RHSeeger 41 days ago
> We did not ask for your location. Your address arrived before you did.

Bunk. You asked a geolocation api/service to map my ip address back to a location. You _did_ ask for my location, using my IP as a key. And my IP is pretty much required in order for communication on the internet to work (outside of using services to hide it, but then _they_ have your info instead).
3 comments
ygjb 41 days ago
Nah. The browser has a mechanism to request geolocation. This is the ask that was not performed. The user was not asked, which is the important piece.

If I have a dictionary, I don't have to ask the meaning of a word I hear from someone I am speaking to, I can look it up in the dictionary. I may infer an incorrect meaning because the word has multiple meanings or is a colloquialism.

If I need to clarify that inaccuracy, I need other data points (for example, the context of the conversation), or I can ask my conversational partner for clarification).

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nozzlegear 40 days ago
> Nah. The browser has a mechanism to request geolocation. This is the ask that was not performed. The user was not asked, which is the important piece.

The geolocation API requires prompting the user for permission before it can be used: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Geolocation...

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ygjb 40 days ago
Yes, that would have tripped the prompt asking the user, which would have had explicit user acceptance or refusal. The point is you don't need consent to do a fuzzy match usibg other data in most jurisdictions.
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nozzlegear 40 days ago
Ah I see what you're saying. I think the website's wording is just confusing, which made me think you, in turn, were saying something you weren't.
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mmooss 41 days ago
> my IP is pretty much required in order for communication on the internet to work (outside of using services to hide it, but then _they_ have your info instead).

Tor and similar multi-hop proxies, depending on construction, supposedly can't match source to destination IPs.

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amarant 41 days ago
It has.. Shall we say tradeoffs.. In terms of latency mostly, but I suspect bandwidth is likely affected too
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cortesoft 41 days ago
I think you are misreading this. It isn't saying they didn't ask ANYONE, they are saying they never asked YOU as a user for it.

Also, though, of COURSE your address arrived first... how else are they going to send back the data you are requesting?

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