Firefox To Watch Your Every Move

Mozilla has created a new plug-in for Firefox that will know exactly where you are. Called Geode, the browser will be able to automatically deduce your location, providing you with localised content anywhere in the world.

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According to the Mozilla Labs post, future versions of Firefox plan on supporting the new W3C Geolocation Specification, which ‘adds the native ability for Web sites to request, and you to optionally grant access to, your location.’ In addition They also said that they are still working on the specifics, but they are hoping that location will be provided by one or more user selectable service providers and methods (GPS, Wi-FI, Manual entry).

They also said that the potential for this plug-in is endless. “For example, imagine an RSS reader that knows the difference between home and work and automatically changes it’s behaviour appropriately. Or a news site whose local section is, in fact, actually local. Or Web site authentication that only allows you to login from certain physical locations, like your house.”

When using Geode, a notification bar may pop up and ask you how much information you want to give a particular website: your exact location, your neighbourhood, your city, or nothing at all.

The company is using Skyhook’s Loki technology to map the Wi-fi signals in your area to your location and will be able to give you a fairly accurate read of between 10 to 20 metres within a second.

Just note that both location and IP information will be sent to Mozilla’s current provider, Skyhook, every time a website is granted access to your location. However, the company says that: “Skyhook’s privacy policy is that they do not store or use any personal identifying information, and they promise to only keep data in anonymized aggregate.”

To download Geode, visit this link: https://people.mozilla.com/%7Edolske/dist/geode/geode-latest.xpi