[LINK] Introducing geoloc

[Stilgherrian]

On 17/01/2011, at 8:33 PM, Paul Brooks wrote:
> On 14/01/2011 1:59 PM, Jon Seymour wrote:
>> So now most Android phones
>> and most iPhone 4's will be subject to being indexed by Google's
>> MAC-to-location database at their usual point of presence. The fact
> "at their usual point of presence" is a bit of a stretch. Personally, every time I've 
> enabled my android hotspot has been well away from my usual location, due to their 
> being no other wifi network available. This feature is more likely to muddy the 
> SSID+MAC-to-location database, as all these 'hotspots' become indexed at such a wide 
> variety of places that it will resemble the song "I've been everywhere, man". Trying 
> to determine a location on the basis that one of these is within range is likely to 
> become extremely misleading.

Or, since the MAC address will tell you what sort of device you're looking at, the geoloc providers could just omit Android devices and iPhones from their process.

Presumably something like this already happens, given that other Wi-Fi devices do move. It'd be easy enough to ignore any Wi-Fi MAC address that looks up as being outside the vicinity of the cell towers the phone is currently talking to.

I'm talking out of my a-se here of course, but is there a problem I've missed? It's already a fizzy database, just a bit fuzzier with more moving devices.

Stil


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