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I am not asking what geolocation service to use or how you use them.
I am asking, how the do these companies know so well where every IP address is? Is there some breach of privacy being violated?
I looked at the wikipedia page, and all they had to say was using the WHOIS service, which obviously doesn't work at all: my IP is owned by a company listed in another state.
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The way the IP-based geolocation works is simply by checking which IP range is used by which area, using an IP-to-location database. So, you can find the information like the country and the city that your users come from, just by knowing their IP address.
For example, the device's IP address can be used to determine the country, city, or ZIP code, determining its geographical location. Other methods include examination of Wi-Fi hotspots, a MAC address, image metadata, or credit card information.
The LITE edition is an open-source version of IP database with limited accuracy. It is free for personal or commercial use with attribution required.
I was wondering the same thing. Check out Ken Norton, Project Manager at Google, 's response on how Google acquires geolocation data: http://www.quora.com/How-does-Google-keep-its-geolocation-database-updated-with-new-MAC-addresses.
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