VPN does not hide my location
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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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blackbird71 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 Moderator Volunteer 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 last edited by
Thanks for the explanations.
What can I do to NOT broadcast my geolocation? -
blackbird71 last edited by blackbird71
@esebm said in VPN does not hide my location:
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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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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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blackbird71 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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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 Moderator Volunteer last edited by
Original: http://huffingtonpost.com/ Local: the localized version of the site for your country if there is one.
