What Is Geolocation and How Your Location Is Tracked Online

Real life technology has finally caught up with the movies. From The Bourne Ultimatum to The Matrix , geolocation trackers played pivotal roles that often led to thrilling chases and spy showdowns. The geolocation technology that exists today isn’t quite as exciting as these film storylines, but despite its perceived detractions, it offers many benefits that you probably unwittingly utilize every day. The internet would be a dysfunctional mess without geolocation. But what is geolocation, exactly? And does your IP address show your location to anyone who wants to access it? Let’s take a look. What is geolocation, beyond a futuristic, faintly Orwellian–sounding technology? Geolocation utilizes various methods to determine the location of your smart device. The accuracy of geolocation depends on the method used. Some geolocation trackers can pinpoint the exact location of your device, down to the street address. Others may discover your country, state, city, or neighborhood. Many different types of software can determine your geolocation, including: Geolocation has been a lot longer than you may think. Although the technology has evolved over the past 60 years, a form of geolocation was first used in the “Doppler Effect” system ( the precursor to GPS systems ) used to track submarines. GPS is regulated and owned by the U.S. government and used by the U.S. Air Force to manage the collective civil, commercial, homeland security, national defense, and science-based needs of the country. However, especially over the past 15 years and with the evolution of smartphones, GPS and other geolocation technologies have been utilized by private corporations as well. Geolocation works by collecting, processing, and transmitting data. Geolocation databases are utilized by ridesharing services, streaming platforms, e-commerce sites, and more.  A device dedicated to geotracking collects data from cellular tower and WiFi pings, GPS signals, and other services. The device then transmits collected data to the cloud or to a central, dedicated server. The collected data is then analyzed and processed to triangulate a location by measuring the distance between your device and the signal or ping. For example, say you’re looking for a Sushi restaurant near you via your phone’s internet browser. The results that appear might include restaurants within a mile of your current location. This is possible because your cell phone transmits a signal to a local cellular tower, and collected data determining your phone’s location is then processed and analyzed within seconds. IP address geolocation can provide useful location insights, but its precision depends on several factors. At the country level, results are usually very reliable, with success rates above 95%. However, accuracy declines as the scope narrows to regions, cities, or neighborhoods—city-level data may only be correct 50–80% of the time, and rural or mobile connections are often even less consistent. Mobile IPs, for example, are often routed through carrier gateways that can be located hundreds of miles from the actual device, or assigned from pools of IP addresses that are geographically diverse, making the reported location misleading. VPNs and proxy IPs also pose challenges since they are designed to mask a user’s real address, so the geolocation often reflects the server’s location rather than the individual’s. Satellite internet IPs can be equally problematic, as traffic is funneled through a limited number of ground stations that may be in a completely different state or region. You may already know that every time you hop online, your activity is attached to an IP (Internet Protocol) address. From printers to laptops to smartphones, across the globe each smart device is assigned an IP address. An IP address is a unique string of identifying numbers that allows you to connect to the internet and gives you access to unrestricted content. Your home IP address, known as a static IP, is assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and doesn’t change. An IP address works similarly to a street address. When your device wants to connect to a server and collect or transmit data, that data needs to know where to go. For example, if you mail a letter addressed to Joe Smith Baltimore, Maryland, the envelope may reach Baltimore, but it will never reach your intended recipient. IP addresses work in similar ways. A website can only receive a specific request for data if it has a unique IP address, and also needs a unique address in order to fulfill the request and deliver the data — without IP addresses, the internet would not be able to function. In short, yes. An IP address does show your geographical location. However, it doesn’t specify your street address, or typically, even your neighborhood. Nevertheless, an IP address may reflect your general location, including your region, county, city, zip code, or area code. Although you may have a permanent IP address if you’re connecting to the internet from your home, your IP address changes every time you move locations. Nevertheless, the IP address geographical location might remain the same. For example, if you scroll through social media while waiting at a neighborhood bank, you’ll have a different IP address than you have at home. If you then check your email from the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant two blocks away, your IP address will change once again. Yet, your physical location identifiers will reflect the same geolocation. IP addresses can reveal your location through IP geolocation, a method that analyzes data, IP addresses, and routing information to roughly determine where you are connecting to the internet. However, geolocation through an IP address isn’t 100% accurate. On average, geolocation accuracy that reveals the state you’re connecting from is 55%-80%, and accuracy in determining your city is 50%-75%. The idea that a cybercriminal may track your geolocation through your IP address is scary. Yet, this process will never reveal your exact address or lead to a horror movie moment with a villain who uses the internet to discern what room you’re in at home. Many industries use geolocation services to add extra cybersecurity and protection for their customers, including banking, telecommunications, travel, hospitality, entertainment, and law enforcement. Some of the numerous benefits of geolocation include: Unfortunately, when geolocation capabilities fall into the wrong hands, your cybersecurity can be threatened. Here are some of the ways cybercriminals might use your IP address to target you: If public IP addresses make you uncomfortable, there are simple ways to hide your IP address and protect yourself from hackers, including: Visit What Is My IP Address to access our free online privacy tools like the Personal Data Scan , and track someone else’s IP address by tracing their email address source . Check out our Easy Prey podcast and our blog to discover more cybersecurity tips.