FAKE YOUR LOCATION
Hide your location from websites and apps
We’ve already explained how to generate fake addresses in online forms (see page 51), but websites can still identify your whereabouts using geo-location. This uses your IP address to provide relevant local information such as details of nearby amenities, but it can also feel like an invasion of your privacy. All browsers now force sites to ask your permission to see your location, but to save you having to refuse each time – or risk giving permission accidentally – you can block geo-location by default.
In Chrome, click the three-dot menu and choose Settings, then ‘Security and privacy’ and click ‘Site settings’. Select ‘Location’ and switch on ‘Don’t allow sites to see your location’ (see screenshot below). In Edge, go to Settings, ‘Cookies and site permissions’, click Location and switch off ‘Ask before accessing’. In Firefox, go to Settings, Privacy & Security, scroll down to Permissions, click Settings next to Location and select ‘Block new requests asking to access your location’. You can set up exceptions for sites you’re happy to share your location with.
To stop apps knowing your location on your Android phone, open Settings, tap
Location and switch off ‘Use location’. On an iphone or ipad, go to Settings, then Privacy and turn off Location Services.
Pretend to be in a different location
If you want to view relevant web content without sites knowing exactly where you are, you can disguise your current position using the browser extension Location Guard (see screenshot right). Available for Chrome and other Chromium browsers ( www.snipca. com/40331) and Firefox ( www.snipca. com/40332), this free tool applies ‘noise’ to your location to make detection less accurate. Unlike a VPN (see box below), your spoofed location won’t be in another country but up to 7,116 metres away (about 4.5 miles), so you can still get useful local information. Alternatively, you can use the ‘Fixed location’ option to place yourself anywhere in the world.
A similar feature is available in Windscribe’s free extension for Chrome ( www.snipca.com/40333) and Firefox ( www.snipca.com/40334). Choose a proxy server (the option won’t work in Autopilot mode), click the extension’s menu button and select Privacy, then Other and turn on Location Warp. This fakes your GPS coordinates to match the proxy, so sites won’t detect a discrepancy.
On an Android phone, you can spoof your whereabouts using Location Changer ( www.snipca.com/40337). Install this free app, then unlock ‘Developer options’ on your phone by going to Settings, ‘About phone’ and tapping ‘Build number’ seven times. In the app, tap the menu button in the bottom-right corner and choose ‘Developer options’ (see screenshot below), then press ‘Select mock location app’ and choose Location Changer. Tap ‘Start’ in the bottom-left corner of the app and choose ‘Show Map’ to disguise where you are either by searching for a location or by long-pressing the map to place the marker where you want to pretend to be. Other apps won’t detect your real location for as long as Location Changer is open or until you tap Stop.
Note that Apple doesn’t allow GPS location-spoofing tools in its App Store, so you won’t be able to use a similar tool on your iphone.