Home Forums Mac Software Mac Operating Systems locationd at work here?

I was using PriceGrabber yesterday...new AirPortExpress Base Station, but that's another thread, and I noticed that sales tax was being computed without my having entered my ZIP Code.

I assume locationd was involved, and I'd like to "turn off" whatever was at work. (/Apps/SysPrefs > Security > Disable Location Services is checked.)

Is it possible?

Could you have entered a ZIP code on some related and earlier search, resulting in a browser cookie that was now used?

Some things you might do to eliminate sources of location information stored on your computer:

1. If you are using Safari in Safari > Preferences > Security, uncheck the item labeled "Allow websites to ask for location information" (as far as I know there is no similar setting in either Firefox or Chrome but I may have missed it)
2. Set your browser to deny all requests to create cookies (which has the unfortuate side effect of denying the use of almost all shopping cart sites. Otherwise Every time you launch you your browser, start by deleting all cookies.
3. Flash is a major source of personal information so either run the Flash uninstaller, which will therefore deny access to a number of web sites or...
4. go here and...
   1. Set your global privacy settings to "Always Deny"
   2. set the global storage settings to zero
   3. set the global security settings to Always Ask
   4. In the Flash Player settings panel delete all sites
   5. In the website storage settings panel set the allowable website storage to zero
   6. in peer assisted netowrk settings check Disable P2P uplink for all
5. If at all possible, when making purchases on the internet use a "guest" option rather than getting an account with the vendor. That means you will always have to enter all your data every time you purchase from that vendor, but it is more secure.

Good thinking, Ira, but I forgot to mention that I cleared cookies with no joy.

I'd guess that your IP address is being used to determine your likely location. Though this is obviously not a wholly reliable technique, that doesn't seem to stop various sites (and particularly advertisers) from employing it.

(FWIW, WhatIsMyIPAddress.com, while allowing that "[a]ccuracy rates on deriving a city from an IP address fluctuate between 50 and 80 percent," nonetheless appears to nail your location.)

Thanks for the detailed to-do list, joemike, but I was close to 100% on it before you posted. (Deny all cookies is the one thing I hadn't done and won't do, but I do keep close tabs on my cookies.)

I actually paid a few bucks more for an item once so I could use PayPal to avoid an on-line vendor who demanded my personal info.

Thanks for that; it's a new one on me, and it sounds good... Lookup IP Address Details nailed my location pretty closely, although I can't say how close my latitude and longitude are.