A new online tracking system will allow websites to pinpoint your location to within a few hundred metres, without your permission.
Internet sites will be able to work out where users are within an average of 690 metres, using information about their internet connection. At the moment they can only track users’ locations to within a radius of about 200 km, but the new technique will narrow this down to as little as 100 metres.
The new system, which has been designed by American and Chinese researchers, compares the time it takes to send data to computers to the time it takes to send to computers it knows the location of using Google Maps.
To locate computers to this accuracy has previously required people to agree to share location, but the new system does not need any particular software on the computer to work or even the user’s permission.
Yong Wang, one of the researchers who designed the method, said: “This is a client-independent method. The client does not need to approve anything.”
Delineated by the American and Chinese researchers, the new tracking systemroughly evaluates the whereabouts of the user.
They track down the browsers by locating the closet landmark, including schools and universities, to them
Advantage for advertisers
While the new tracking system might be a threat for the privacy of the iPhone and other users, it has come as an advantage for the advertisers.
Through the help of this technology, the scientists can now locate the user and advertise about the products, services and shops, located nearest to them.
