- NordVPN has launched a new free browser tool
- “My Location” shows your physical location along with the virtual location
- The tool seeks to help users understand the risks to their digital privacy
Location data can reveal much more than just which coffee shop you’re sitting at. They expose the places you visit regularly, your daily routines and exactly when you are away from home. Now, to help users understand exactly what data they are transmitting, the team behind one of the best VPN services has launched a specific way to check it.
NordVPN has officially launched My Location, a completely free online tool designed to let you instantly check both your physical location and the virtual location visible to the websites you visit. The tool, which operates entirely at the browser level, aims to demystify how different types of location data impact your digital privacy.
“Location is one of the most sensitive types of personal information because it can reveal where you are, as well as patterns about your daily life,” says Marijus Briedis, CTO at NordVPN. “Once this data is exposed or shared too widely, it can be used for profiling, segmentation, and other purposes that go far beyond the original reason it was collected.”
Real versus virtual location
One of the main goals of the My Location tool is to educate users about the crucial difference between their real and virtual locations.
His actual location It is located using device-based methods like GPS or your browser’s geolocation API, which apps typically use when requesting access to your whereabouts.
His virtual locationhowever, it is based on the IP address attached to your online traffic. This is the data that websites rely on by default to estimate where your connection is originating from.
Why is this difference important? Providing this information may lead to targeted advertising and regional price discrimination, where websites show you different prices depending on your region. In more serious cases, a time-stamped location history can lead to intrusive surveillance or stalking by making it easier to infer where you live and track how you move in daily life.
Using the tool is incredibly simple, but there is a specific step you must follow to protect your privacy.
When you navigate to the My Location page, you will see a button to test your location. If you’re using Google Chrome, clicking “Try” will trigger a warning in the browser asking, “Can I give NordVPN your location?” In addition to this warning, Chrome will present you with three options: “Block”, “Just this once”, or “Always”.
Users must choose “Just this once.” By doing this, you allow the tool to use your browser’s geolocation API to determine your actual physical location and map it along with your IP-based virtual location for that single session. Because you haven’t given it permanent access, the tool won’t automatically work again, keeping your long-term privacy intact.
Most importantly, you don’t need to worry about the provider keeping an eye on you. NordVPN confirmed that the tool operates exclusively at the browser level and “does not record or store any location data revealed through its use.”
How to protect your location data
Beyond simply checking what information is visible, it is essential to take active steps to lock down your data.
Briedis recommends some simple hygiene habits for your devices. You should periodically review your app permissions, making sure you only allow location access while you are actively using an app. Additionally, it is highly recommended to disable geotagging in your device’s camera settings and choose privacy-friendly tools whenever possible.
Finally, while a virtual private network (VPN) does not mask GPS-based tracking, it is the best way to protect your virtual footprint. By routing your internet traffic through an encrypted server, a VPN changes the IP address visible to websites, ensuring your general browsing activity remains securely hidden.
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