The Geographic Tracker
Google Chrome features a powerful Geolocation API that allows web applications to pinpoint your physical, real-world location. While this is highly useful for mapping services or finding a local restaurant, it is constantly abused by advertising networks and retail websites to serve hyper-targeted, location-based advertisements. By default, Chrome will ask you for permission via a pop-up every time a site requests your location, which quickly becomes incredibly annoying. If you refuse to allow any website to track your physical coordinates, you must completely blind the browser to your geographic location.
How to Block Location Access Globally
You can permanently sever the browser’s connection to your operating system’s location services via the Site Settings.
- Open the Google Chrome desktop browser.
- Click the three vertical dots (⋮) in the top right corner and select Settings.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Privacy and security.
- In the main window, click on Site settings.
- Under the “Permissions” heading, click on Location.
- Under the “Default behavior” heading, select the radio button for “Don’t allow sites to see your location.”
A Geographically Blind Browser
The change takes effect instantly. Google Chrome will completely sever its internal connection to the Windows or macOS location triangulation APIs (which use Wi-Fi scanning to determine where you are). The browser will instantly auto-reject every single background request from any website attempting to locate you. You will never again see a “Website wants to know your location” pop-up, completely neutralizing geographic tracking and ensuring your physical whereabouts remain completely private.