The following sites use the W3C Geolocation API to request your precise location. What they do with your location, how they ask for it and what measures they take to protect it vary from site to site. You might also be wondering: how do websites know where I am?
| Site | What does it do? | How do you get the prompt? | Is the user informed up front? | Is it mentioned in the Privacy Policy? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Maps | Zoom the map to your location. | Click on the small circle above the zoom control. | No. | Mentioned in the full privacy policy, but not the summary. (3 clicks.) |
| Flickr | Show pictures taken nearby. | Click "Find my location". | No. | Not explicitly mentioned in the privacy policy. |
| GeoMail | Add your location to an email message. | Just load the page. (Fills location into hidden form; doesn't send it.) | No. | No privacy policy. |
| GraffitiGeo | Show tagged locations nearby. | Just load the page. | No. | No privacy policy. |
| Our Airports (mobile) | Show nearby community airports. | Just load the page. (Fills location into visible form; doesn't send it.) | No. | No privacy policy. |
| Our Airports | Show nearby community airports. | Click "Use my current location". (Fills location into visible form; doesn't send it.) | No. | No privacy policy. |
| AskAround.Me | Ask and answer geotagged questions. | Click "Look Around". | No. | No privacy policy. |
| gMapTip WordPress Plugin | Add a map to a blog post. | Mouseover a link. | No. | No privacy policy. |
| Plemi.com | Find nearby concerts. | Click the blue cross-hair. | No. | No privacy policy. |
| BooRah Restaurant Finder | Show top-rated restaurants near you. | Just load the page (not functional?). | No. | Not explicitly mentioned in privacy policy. |
| GoThere | Show Singaporean points of interest. | Click crosshair. (Formerly, just load the page.) | No. | No privacy policy. |
| Google Local | Search for nearby points-of-interest. | Just load the page. (Only works on iPhone?) | No. | Mentioned in the mobile-specific privacy policy (1 click). |
| Identi.ca | Attach your location to microblog posts (which are published publicly). | Registered users just load any identi.ca page. | No. | Not mentioned in the privacy policy. |
| AskLaila | Search for businesses in India. | Just load the page. (Fills location into hidden form; doesn't send it.) | No. | Not mentioned in the privacy policy. |
| Travelocity iPhone | Search for nearby hotels. | Just load the page. (Fills location into hidden form; doesn't send it.) | No. | Not mentioned in the privacy policy. |
| Your Mapper (mobile site) | See map data (historic sites, crime reports, etc.) for your location. | Click the blue cross-hair. (Fills location, reverse-geocoded by Google, into visible form; doesn't send it.) | No. | Mentioned in the privacy policy (no link from the mobile site). |
| BackNoise.com | Have semi-private backchannel conversations. | Join or create a conversation. (Your location is then silently attached to each submission.) | No. | Privacy policy says no personal information is collected or stored. |
| Search.ch | Find train schedules for nearby Swiss train stations. | Click the blue cross-hair. | No. | No mention in privacy policy. |
| Foreca Weather | Get the weather forecast for your area. | Click the blue globe (next to the "Go" button). | No. | No explicit mention in privacy policy. |
| dudesnude | Browse personal ads near your current location. | Registered users only; consequently, this is hard to test. | Unknown. | Covered in the privacy policy. |
| BailBond.com | Find a bail bondsman near your current location. | Click "Detect Location". (Fills location, reverse-geocoded by GeoNames, into visible form; doesn't send it.) | No. | Not explicitly mentioned in the privacy policy. |
| Toupil.fr | Find businesses in your area in France. | Click "activer la localisation automatique". | Gives an explanation/image of the Firefox bar with an arrow informing the user that they should click "Share". | Unknown. |
| The Rocky Horror Picture Show | Find Rocky Horror showtimes near you. | Click "Geolocation Search". | No. | No privacy policy. |
This list is maintained by Nick Doty, with thanks to 80legs and the W3C Geolocation working group for their help. If you have an addition, a correction, a comment or a question, please let me know. (Last updated: February 23, 2010)