Thread: How Does This Site Know Where I Live?

Here's something that's been bugging me for a while. How does this forum's software know exactly where I live?

It pulls up advertisements for the town I live in. I can understand the ads that show up when I'm writing an email as they're being automatically generated based on the content of the emails. But there's nothing in my profile or in my posts that mentions the town I live in, yet I'm seeing ads for businesses in this town. As I don't live in New York City that's not a coincidence.

This doesn't happen with any other forum I'm on. So there's something about this forum and the information it's accessing. Is it looking through my personal information? Is it generated based on ISP? How is it doing it?

This is not specific to this site, though of course not all sites take advantage of this information. Every time you use the internet, you are connecting to various computers; a sort of "handshake" is made where your browser sends along information about you, and the destination sends back a page for you to read.

This is how, for example, when you go to download Amazon's mp3 downloading program, it knows what operating system you are on and provides the right version for you automatically.

If you are bugged by having information about your system transmitted like this, you can use what is called a "proxy" that allows you to spoof it.

Edit: to answer your question more specifically, your physical location as such is not sent, but your IP address is--an IP address is the unique address of a computer on a network (in this case, the internet). Since IP addresses are unique and structured, your general location can be determined from it.

Here is some more info: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/secu...acy_gatherinfo

If you don't want people to know your IP you can use this site as a filter:

www.safeproxy.org

Just type the website you want to visit and you'll be fine.

As already mentioned before by fellow forumers, it is true that your IP stays here, but only for moderators to see. But overtime if you are logging in from someplace else your existing IP replaces itself with the new IP. Some forums save many of your IP's but I really don;t know how this server works.

Don't be scare though, there is no way for us (including mods) to know where you live or what you do or who you are, it is not like the WHITE PAGES Phone catalog. This is wayyy more discrete.

Even if you read IP LATITUDE or IP LONGITUDE that's only your ISP (att, comcast, etc...) adress which begins with adsl or something like that.

Now, only hackers or government workers know who you are. If you know someone is hacking you, let say here, there is always a place in your metro area where you can denounce them. They'll catch the guy even if he was using self made DNS or proxy.

In other words don't worry, even if a hacker sends you e-mails breaking your private life, there is no such thing as the perfect crime. I myself have connection with DEA workers.

Thanks for the replies. I must have a fixed IP address. I've just never seen it used to generate ads before.

Ip addresses don't generate ads.

They do in the sense that they're being used to put the name of a city near you in the ad.

"Ladies looking to get laid In Brussels, click here"

I really hate em

Originally Posted by Margaret

How does this forum's software know exactly where I live?
It pulls up advertisements for the town I live in.

I don't see any ads at all when I use this forum. Whereabouts on the screen do they appear?

My first response was to think I don't see them because they're excluded by the hosts file that I use, but when that happens elsewhere there's usually an indication of some sort to let me know that they have indeed been excluded, so I don't think that's the reason for my not seeing them.

But let me repeat my question - where are these ads? I don't see any.

No. No ads in sight, anywhere.

Originally Posted by Tapkaara

They are coming to kill us all.

No. I think it's just our pet budgerigars they are going to kill.

Originally Posted by Elgarian

I don't see any ads at all when I use this forum. Whereabouts on the screen do they appear?

My first response was to think I don't see them because they're excluded by the hosts file that I use, but when that happens elsewhere there's usually an indication of some sort to let me know that they have indeed been excluded, so I don't think that's the reason for my not seeing them.

At the top of the page under the banner. The same ones seem to repeat. There's one for a dating service, something about fish in the ocean, that goes across the page and has images of fish kissing. Sometimes there are smaller, less obtrusive ones. It's one of these that comes up advertising music lessons here in this town.