Google can locate you with WiFi data, but how do the small companies do it?

Question

My question is a extension to this one. So even though I donot have GPS in my laptop, google knows my location because I am connected to a WiFi AP, or at least have them in my vicinity, to which other android phones with GPS are/were also connected.

I live in a country where street view never started. Yet google is big company, and has the resources to collect the location of all WiFi APs in the world(probably through android phones). OK, but this anti-theft company seems to do the same! In their docs, it's clearly stated that they get the location of the laptop by detecting WiFi APs.

But how did these guys do it? Or is Google or other companies selling my location?

Answer 1

Before Google, Apple, Microsoft and others made their own Wi-Fi BSSID geolocation databases, a company called Skyhook made one that any company could pay a service/licensing fee to use. In fact, when Wi-Fi-based geolocation first appeared in iOS, Apple was using Skyhook, because Apple had not yet built their own database. I imagine there are competitors to Skyhook.

Several years ago, Skyhook had a public AJAX API that you could use in low volumes without paying a license fee. You could create a tool that would do a Wi-Fi scan, collate all the BSSIDs (wireless MAC addresses of APs), and send it to Skyhook's service, and a split-second later you'd get back geo coordinates. I haven't tried that service in years, so I don't know if it's still available.

Answer 2

GPS is not the only way to locate a device. You can get rough location information of a device connecting to cell phone towers through triangulation. You can also get location information based on an IP address as the public addresses are registered with known entities (ISPs, etc.) so your location can be roughly pinpointed using multiple methods.

Also your Wireless card can tell where other Wireless Access Points are that are nearby and their signal strengths. This information can also be used to triangulate your location if you are near any public or commercial WAPs

Answer 3

How does it (Prey) work?

Basically you install a tiny agent on your laptop, tablet or phone, which silently waits for a remote signal to wake up and work its magic. This signal is sent from our hosted web service whenever you wish to gather information or trigger an action, like locking down the device. That’s pretty much it.

I’m a tech guy, just give me the details

Ok, sure. On laptops, the agent checks in regularly by sending an HTTP request to see whether it should gather information, perform any actions or stay asleep. On mobiles, the process stays off and waits for a push notification in order to perform this check. The laptop client is written in Node.js and both the Android and iOS in their native tongues.

Can Prey trace a computer connected via Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi?

Yes, it will, since Prey only needs to get a list of the nearby Wi-Fi access points to get a location, it doesn’t really require for the PC to be connected to any of those networks.

Source Prey FAQ