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    VPN does not hide my location

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    • A Former User
      A Former User last edited by

      Hi, I'm on Opera 56...99 /win 10.
      My VPN is set to the Americas and I keep seeing ads that refer to my real location. How is that possible?

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

        Maybe the site is using other resources to find your location.

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        • A Former User
          A Former User last edited by

          Like what other resources?

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            leocg 1 Reply Last reply
          • 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.

                                Reply Quote 1
                                  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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