We’ve all been there.
That creepy place on the internet where images pop up from our recent online searches.
Even creepier is when those images sneak into your email sidebar.
We know Big Brother is watching but do you have to visually remind us?
Every. Single. Time.
As smart as the internet is, there is one area where it fails. Repeatedly.
The location of your computer.
Internet Misdirect
Like our homes, our computers have an address. It’s called an IP address, which is short for Internet Protocol.
Sorry. I hate unexplained acronyms.
Your IP address is that series of numbers, separated by periods. It looks something like this − 111.222.3.444.
It helps digital devices talk to each other through the internet.
Have you ever gone to a business site (like a restaurant chain) with multiple locations and the site shows inaccurate location information?
For example, the internet thinks I’m in Joplin, Missouri. It’s bad enough everyone thinks I live in Iowa (instead of Idaho). Now, I’ve become part of the Show-Me state.
My mom’s computer is somewhere in Kansas.
IP addresses used for location are often inaccurate. Very inaccurate.
Not the Internet’s Fault
To be fair, it’s not really the internet’s fault.
- Geolocation systems give their best shot at mapping locations
- It all depends on the accuracy of the databases used
It’s small of me; however, it feels good to know the internet is not perfect. I feel better. Almost superior.
What’s next? The great Google god?
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Live…Laugh…Love
See, I think that’s a plus. It’s why I cloak my IP address- so they WON’T know where I am!!!!
Ah-ha, see, Roy. You are superior to the internet. But then I knew that. 😉
Cathy, why don’t you tell us how to use google incognito… then we can all be like Roy. I use it when I want my search results ‘raw’ without any reference to what I’ve looked at before.
Sorry I’m so late in responding, Anne. My boomer brain saw this on my smartphone and forgot to come here to reply. 😉 Somehow I don’t think the incognito is not fullproof. 🙂
I read this post a few days ago, but I had to come back to comment. Hubby and I had a conversation last night about it. He thinks it’s “creepy” that Facebook stalks him. I had to point out that Bing and Google do, too. I type in one search and the ads for that thing follow me from Google to Facebook to eBay to Nordstrom to…..
What surprised me, Lori, (although I’m not sure why it should) was even LinkedIn has tracking on other sites (unless you opt out).
There is a definite creep factor. I often say the idea of privacy is like closing the barn door after the horse has escaped. 😉