EDIT. VPN is enabled and connected to a different country. IP address is showing correctly, and my vpn-enabled router has kill switch.
virtually anything could be installed on a cooperate laptop. They own the device. The usual culprit would be geolocation enabled in a web browser. However since this a cooperate laptop the OS, network driver itself, even the hardware could be altered.
A vpn is simply an encrypted tunnel between two nodes. It doesn’t normally control the information inside the packets it tunnels for you. So any information could leak out of a device to the internet especially if the device is designed to do so.
It could be several things, but the rule nazi’s here will want me to prove it with links. Sorry, I don’t have time to RTFM for other people. Maybe ask in another channel.
What kind of geolocation was it?
- A DNS leak ?
- WebRTC or WEBGL leaks ?
Sounds like a GPS module on the laptop. Because even if your IP address were to leak it wouldn’t have your exact location. It would be a neighbourhood approximation.
Your browser likely has an option to pass geolocation to websites. I know Firefox has it.
Go into your browser settings and disable it, that way the browser will be forced to use your IP for location.
If your computer does not have GPS, WiFi can give away your location. You don’t need to connect to a WiFi hotspot, your location is revealed simply having WiFi turned on.
I have a more detailed write up here if you’re interested: How does my browser know my real location when I’m on a VPN? – pcWRT
Sure I get it. But unless my laptop has GPS, which it doesn’t, then I can only assume that routers around me provide location information even if I am not connected to them. My wifi card scans for wifi signals and grabs location from them.
Hi, I’d be glad to get your explanation, even if it’s in DM. Because this is my exact case. Thanks in advance.
What is full tunnel? I use travel router
I am always in full tunnel mode and still get this 90% of the time. It goes away when I restart my computer, but a few hours later, it’s back again.
Just regular geolocation from browser where it prompts me first. I let it, and was really surprised when it placed me correctly
Pass geolocation - sure. But where does it get it from, aside from IP provider location?
VPNs appear as an additonal and virtual network adapter and the OS of the host must decidr which traffic should be “sent” to each adapter.
A split tunnel (common with remote access solutions) will send only traffic heading for the network at the other end of the VPN tunnel by the usual IP rules i.e. does the subnet matching.
Other traffic will obey other adapter routing so the maps app on the internet would go via the main internet connection.
A full tunnel specifies 0.0.0.0 i.e. all traffic, so even traffic destined for the internet goes down the tunnel first and then emerges from the gateway configured by the VPN network admin. This is the norm for commercial/privacy VPN services.
Lastly, there are several types of leak that may occur. If the user is not taking precautions then despite all efforts to use the VPN correctly the user may still be exposed.
where it prompts me first
I see. In that case, when you have to give consent like this, you’re voluntarily giving out info that the site normally wouldn’t have access to. If it was only locating you by IP address (this is what your VPN connection changes), it wouldn’t require any consent because the server always sees the IP you are connecting from, that’s how the internet protocols work.
Your laptop likely has a GPS unit similar to a cellphone which is where it can find precise location. Also sometimes your wi-fi has location services that can pass data to your computer which passes it to the internet.
Sure, but aside from IP address (which is pointing to a different country), how else does it know where I am without GPS?
This is a good article about just that. Most likely it’s the Wi-Fi based location.
Most likely this is it. I too had been shocked to discover my geolocation was within 30 metres, despite using VPN. When Javascript was also enabled.
Even if one had kept his wifi/router’s information hidden, there is often still enough information from other nearby routers to provide roughly accurate triangulation.
Can prevent this by disabling Javascript. But that will interrupt some services that we do want when using the internet.