[tor-bugs] #2338 [Tor bundles/installation]: Geolocation in Tor

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki torproject-admin at torproject.org
Thu Dec 30 17:06:15 UTC 2010


#2338: Geolocation in Tor
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 Reporter:  chuckfrasher              |       Owner:  erinn
     Type:  defect                    |      Status:  new  
 Priority:  normal                    |   Milestone:       
Component:  Tor bundles/installation  |     Version:       
 Keywords:                            |      Parent:       
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 I installed the Tor Bundle with Pidgin. I went to this link to see if
 geolocation in Firefox could show my real location in Fireofx.

 http://blog.mozilla.com/webdev/2009/05/01/geolocation-in-the-browser/

 When I clicked on "Share location" it did not reveal my true locatiopn.
 However, when I refreshed the browser and tried again it *did* give up my
 exact location. I uninstalled and reinstalled just to make sure and tried
 again with the same results. If you try it once and then refresh the
 browser and try again it *does* reveal your true location.

 Someone at Wilders Security Forum had posted a way to disable geolocation
 in Firefox. I typed in about:config in the address bar and toggled
 geo.enabled to false. This works. However, I am concerned that geolocation
 is now the biggest threat anonymity, and for people in China and Iran this
 could be a nightmare.

 I disabled geolocation in Firefox because (A). It is a known feature in
 Firefox (but that doesn't mean that a hidden geolocation feature cannot be
 added)....and (B). Someone showed me how to disable it. I'm a tech dummy.
 I would not have known had someone not shown me.

 But I think this is just the beginning of a new threat. But anyway I think
 maybe that it would be a good idea to disable geolocation by default in
 the Tor Browser Bundle, and also recommend that people who use the Vidalia
 Bundle do the same in their Firefox.  Thanks, Chuck

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/2338>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online


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