How come Google knows your location even when you’re using a VPN?

[Mike]

How come Google knows your location even when you’re using a VPN?

For most intents and purposes, Google is the big conspiracy-type octopus with tentacles going around the globe and ending in every pie. Naturally, one might want to hide some details of our lives from our Google spider overlords. But that’s not always successful. For example, how does Google know our location despite us using a VPN? Well, the ways it can do it are many – and sometimes, it’s our own damn fault.

The way Google knows your location even with a VPN, in short:

Google can determine your location despite VPN use by collecting all sorts of geographical data via the browser, the apps, and the settings on your device. Luckily, you can disable that data collection.

5 ways Google knows your location while you’re using a VPN
Browser data collection
Your browser knows what Wi-Fi you’re using. Meanwhile, Google (and other companies) have collected a bunch of data on Wi-Fi access points. An Android phone automatically collects and forwards Wi-Fi BSSID (basically their unique identifiers) and GPS coordinates  to Google. So if you’re connecting to the Wi-Fi at your local coffee shop, your Chrome browser is automatically telling Google, “yo, we’re at the John’s Actual Factual Coffee Shop in Johannesburg.” Thus our company that has long abandoned the “Do No Evil” slogan knows where you parked yourself.

GPS
The Global Positioning System turns a map on your phone from a glorified paper map scan to a tool that actually shows you where you are at all times (among other things, like measuring traffic congestion). But to work like that, it needs access to the GPS system, and this is just beaming your location to Google at all times. At this point, how can Google NOT know where you are?

Cookies and Location History
Cookies are tiny files that websites store on your device to know your preferences and configuration. So if you, say, enter a website for the first time in Germany, the device will store the information that you’re accessing the website from Germany for quicker setups next time. This may not pinpoint your exact geographic location, but since region locks care about countries and not cities, it suits those goals just fine.

A more advanced version of this is Google Location History, an account-level option that stores, well, a history of locations you had been to previously. VPN or no VPN, Google can determine your location by using that stored data.

GSM Cell ID
Hey, remember when we talked about Wi-Fi IDs? The same thing happens with cell phone towers as well. There are public databases with IDs of cell phone towers, and Google openly states that it collects such data for location services. So yes, even switching to mobile data is not a real solution to your problem.

Your VPN is bad
Sometimes, it’s the fault of your VPN as well! Not all VPNs are made the same; some might be leaking your DNS (Domain Name System), IP (Internet Protocol), or WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) data. This is, however, fairly easy to check online. It’s also a good thing to do, as a VPN that’s leaking data to Google is leaking it to everyone, so why even use it?

How to stop Google from knowing your location.
Read more: Here