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Is it possible to make sure that GPS positions an iOS app is getting are real, and they are not fake locations illegitimately provided somehow, for example, by means of another app such as LocationHolic?

Thanks!

AppsDev
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  • So... can I assume that locations could only be faked on jailbroken devices? And could then "Find my iPad/iPhone" be easily tricked if someone jailbreaks your device? – AppsDev Dec 01 '12 at 18:14
  • @AppsDev Why should somebody bother to trick "Find my device"? If you steal a device, you just disconnect it from the net. – Sulthan Dec 01 '12 at 18:32

1 Answers1

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You could theoretically do some ip number geo lookup (e.g. How does geographic lookup by IP work?), but that's not entirely reliable (e.g. VPNs), so I'd be hesitant to dispute someone's location on the basis of that. Given that locationholic is for jailbroken devices, perhaps validate location information against ip-derived location info if, and only if, the app is running on jailbroken device. For info re ip number based geo lookup or identifying if a device is jailbroken, I'm expert in neither, but both topics are covered well elsewhere on StackOverflow or can be answered with a google search.

In short, I suspect that locations are reliable on non-jail-broken phones. Regarding "Find My iPad/iPhone" on jail-broken phones, I can't speak to that, but all rules of reliability and security are thrown out of the window on jail-broken devices, so you can't rely on it.

Community
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Rob
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    Thanks! Could somebody confirm that, effectively, you can always trust on locations your app is getting on non-jailbroken devices? – AppsDev Dec 03 '12 at 09:18
  • Here is one idea: Modify information your wifi router is broadcasting to match the info of some other wlan on some other location(Use http://wigle.net to pick one). You also need to make sure your phone is not receiving any other signal(other wlans, cellular towers or gps obviously) so you would need to make some sort of faraday cage... But it would work(assumption is that Apple also has info about that other wlan in their location DB) – Ivan Kovacevic Feb 21 '13 at 10:33