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Behind the "My Location" Errors In Google Maps
waderoush writes "Ever since Google added the 'My Location' feature this week to the desktop and laptop versions of Google Maps, allowing Firefox and Chrome users to see their current location on a map, people have been reporting bizarre location errors — Manhattanites, for example, are being told by Google that they're in Austin, TX. Ted Morgan, the CEO of Boston-based location software provider Skyhook Wireless, talked about the problems in an interview Friday. Skyhook's Wi-Fi-based location-finding technology was passed over when Mozilla adopted Google's own location services toolkit for Firefox 3.5 in April; Morgan says that was unfortunate for Web app developers, because Google's 'crowdsourced' database of Wi-Fi access point locations is far less reliable than Skyhook's."
Right above the zoom buttons, you have a street view icon. Between the street view icon and the scroll buttons, you may see a small circle. Click there.
Unfortunately, Google has horrible user agent sniffing. I'm on Firefox on Linux, and I need to spoof myself as a Windows user to get that button.
As any sane person would expect, and thirty seconds on Google would confirm, the browser asks permission before sending the location data. Screenshot. No privacy is being taken away.
Lesson of the day: don't make nutty assumptions, and don't post knee-jerk reactions based on them.
Language switching based on guessed location is evil. That's what the accept-language HTTP header is for!