Hacker News Reader

Comment by untog | Hacker News Reader

There is zero reason for an ad to be using the Geolocation API. IP-based geolocation is more than enough.

I'm sure advertising will find a use for it! Like "hyper-local ads" that can give you "just around the corner" deals in malls, etc.

> There is zero reason for an ad to be using the Geolocation API. IP-based geolocation is more than enough.

There was also zero reason for billboards by highways, before there were highways. :)

Location based advertising is powerful, but the issue here is privacy. We have no idea where that information is going.

Advertising could find a use for my DNA profile but that doesn't mean they should have access to it.

Obviously this is all a sliding scale and has nuance, but I'd say ads should not be using anything that is behind a permission prompt, like geolocation. Tremendously hostile to both the user and the site hosting their ad.

We have clients that are asking us to target down to street level, which IP doesn't even come close to offering. With IP you're stuck in the arms of whatever database you're using.

So tell them no. I don't want your clients knowing my street address.

I mean, for all you know, I'm in a domestic abuse shelter. Are you going to take responsibility for my well-being if your clients' database gets leaked? And are you confident that your clients know how to competently secure a database if they can't even use HTTPS?

We don't store any PII, so I don't see what the problem is here?

Any data about the user - even simple timestamps - that is leaked is an increasingly-serious problem. Just because you don't have interesting data doesn't mean other people cannot correlate your data with other aggregated personally identifiable data.

edit: Sorry, partial post due to accidentally hitting enter.

If you have clients pressing you to use code that requires a permission prompt in an ad then you need to have a very straightforward conversation with them about the effect such prompts have on conversion rates.

I'm just engineering side so I don't have any word on that. All we agree to do is zip code as the most granular level of geo targeting.

I hate to play Devil's Advocate but accuracy can be important. Geoip means they can serve me offers for businesses in the same city, but I'd [almost] love it if I were served offers for a taqueria down the street from my browsing location.

More than likely they'll just correlate browsing habits with location and sell that information to third parties, though. High quality advertising is just not in this reality.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com