BitDefender Antitheft

[virentis 3]

Hello im using BitDefender and there you have a thing called anti-theft so you can trace your computer if stolen,my problem is that is know where the location of my pc is the ip is from airvpn but on the map it shows wery close to where i live how? and does it mean everybody can trace my route that easy?

[zhang888 1067]

it's probably using Google's WiFi hotspot API.

 

There is a company giving a test access to query it, like this one:

http://combain.com/sign-up/

 

You will need to submit 2 or more router MAC addresses near your location.

Many "find my device" apps use their API.

[virentis 3]

Thanks for the info any way i can make it stop? block it or anything like that?

[serenacat 83]

Checking the combain website map showed the minimum coverage of cellid in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and for wifi id in Madagascar.

But Vietnam was close behind, I would choose to go there.

I did google "mobile faraday cover" and there are a lot of products to hide the location of your mobile phone when you are not using it.

Then tried "laptop faraday bag", also seems like quite a big market.

I have not found just how Google wifi location works, and limitations, but intrigued. They certainly are motivated to supply your location to advertisers and advise you of surrounding businesses, similar to Maps. And "off switch"es are not what they used to be.

My Android phone can tell me the cellid it is using, without a current call, and the phone sim etc identifiers. But the police etc can triangulate it from multiple cell towers to pinpoint you, and it is legal evidence in court, I believe. Of course, some police do odd jobs for private investigators and crime syndicates. But I do not think carriers supply this to Google, maybe next year ?

And this is below the internet protocol network layer, so vpns are irrelevant.

 

 

[zhang888 1067]

Google scans Wifi APs, stores the data and maps them to the GPS location they were found.

They do it for at least several years:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/22/google_streetview_logs_wlans/

 

Every time a Google car is taking street view photos, it also records all WiFI access points

it sees, and corresponds it to MAC<->GPS binding.

 

 

The best solution would be uninstalling all that "anti-theft" junk, because by using it you

are ignoring a constant theft of your privacy, which to some is more important than the hardware.