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    VPN does not hide my location

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    • leocg
      leocg Moderator Volunteer @Guest last edited by

      Plugins, WebRTC, etc.

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      • A Former User
        A Former User last edited by

        In other words, the VPN setting is just for the birds?

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          blackbird71 leocg 2 Replies Last reply
        • blackbird71
          blackbird71 @Guest last edited by

          @esebm said in VPN does not hide my location:

          In other words, the VPN setting is just for the birds?

          No, the VPN is used simply to hide IP addresses, both yours and the visited site, from the visited site and from 3rd parties that might be watching. If you broadcast your geolocation to the site by other means, don't blame the VPN. It's like putting on a raincoat... if it lacks a hood or you don't use it, don't blame the raincoat if your head gets wet.

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          • leocg
            leocg Moderator Volunteer @Guest last edited by

            No but if the site really wants to know from where you are connecting from, it has some ways.

            Plugins are known to be able to bypass the VPN and use to be disabled when the VPN is turned on. WebRTC with default settings also doesn't use the VPN.

            Also, I'm not sure but geolocation may also reveal your true location.

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            • A Former User
              A Former User last edited by

              Thanks for the explanations.
              What can I do to NOT broadcast my geolocation?

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                blackbird71 leocg 2 Replies Last reply
              • blackbird71
                blackbird71 @Guest last edited by blackbird71

                @esebm said in VPN does not hide my location:

                ...
                What can I do to NOT broadcast my geolocation?

                To block WebRTC leakage (which can be used to discern your location) from Opera: click: O > Settings > Advanced > Privacy & security > scroll down a little ways to WebRTC > select "Disable non-proxied UDP"

                To disable location tracking for a Windows user account: In Windows, click: Search > in searchbox, enter: Privacy Settings > click Location (in left panel) > set "Location Service" to Off

                It might also be a good idea to clear Opera's cookies after doing these things in case there might be some location data stored by sites there.

                Then check to see if the problem site is still figuring out your location (it shouldn't be able to, though it still might present generic ads).

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                • leocg
                  leocg Moderator Volunteer @Guest last edited by

                  By default you need to allow a site to get your geolocation.

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                    blackbird71 1 Reply Last reply
                  • A Former User
                    A Former User last edited by

                    leocg
                    By default should that not be the exit server?

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                      leocg 1 Reply Last reply
                    • leocg
                      leocg Moderator Volunteer @Guest last edited by

                      What do you mean?

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                      • A Former User
                        A Former User last edited by

                        I mean shouldn't the exit server somewhere in the US (if the VPN is set to the Americas) provide its geolocation to the outside world?

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                          leocg 1 Reply Last reply
                        • blackbird71
                          blackbird71 @leocg last edited by

                          @leocg said in VPN does not hide my location:

                          By default you need to allow a site to get your geolocation.

                          I'm not sure what you mean. I've operated Windows systems with geolocation disabled for years and not encountered any problems. If a site wants a visitor's location, they can always look up the listed location of the visiting data-packet's IP, which for a VPN will be that of the VPN exit portal. That may, of course, result in inappropriate regional content/ads or languages being served if the site script uses the IP location to tailor such things.

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                            leocg 1 Reply Last reply
                          • leocg
                            leocg Moderator Volunteer @Guest last edited by

                            Geolocation isn't necessarily based only on your IP address. Even your phone's GPS can be used, depending on the geolocation service provider.

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                            • leocg
                              leocg Moderator Volunteer @blackbird71 last edited by

                              I mean that the default setting for geolocation in Opera is 'ask first'. So when a site wants to use it, you will see a dialog asking you to allow or deny the site access to your location.

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                              • A Former User
                                A Former User last edited by

                                OK, apparently I used the wrong term, it's exit portal not exit server.
                                Anyway, if the target site (in my case it was huffingtonpost.com) "sees" the geolocation of that exit portal it should not be able to find out my real location, just the geolocation of said exit portal, right? Maybe I'm too dense to understand this, it's entirely possible.

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                                  leocg 1 Reply Last reply
                                • leocg
                                  leocg Moderator Volunteer @Guest last edited by

                                  Here with the VPN enabled, the original site is loaded, while that with VPN disabled, the local site is displayed.

                                  So I guess the VPN is working in this case.

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                                  • A Former User
                                    A Former User last edited by

                                    I don't know what you mean by "original site' and "local site".

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                                      leocg 1 Reply Last reply
                                    • leocg
                                      leocg Moderator Volunteer @Guest last edited by

                                      Original: http://huffingtonpost.com/ Local: the localized version of the site for your country if there is one.

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                                      • A Former User
                                        A Former User last edited by

                                        OK, thanks.
                                        If the exit portal is located in the US, I should get the US version of the site, right?
                                        Just looking at the Washington Post website and the first thing I see is an ad, referring to my home town, a little hamlet in the Texas boondocks.
                                        Scary!

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                                          leocg 2 Replies Last reply
                                        • leocg
                                          leocg Moderator Volunteer @Guest last edited by

                                          I think so, and this is what seems to be happening here.

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                                          • leocg
                                            leocg Moderator Volunteer @Guest last edited by

                                            I have the ad-blocker enabled but disabling it makes an ad not related to my real place shows up in the right of the page.

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