Hiding Long and Lat values

[Lucky1000]

Hi,

I was wondering if there was any way of hiding the long and lat values that Google Maps uses in the page source code? I am mapping member's locations, however I am concerned that there is a real security issue that someone is able to see the member's location and can then find out their exact address.

Thank you

[xelawho]

> I was wondering if there was any way of hiding the long and lat values that
> Google Maps uses in the page source code?

short answer: no. Anything coded as javascript and rendered as html is
visible to any user who knows how to hit the "view source" button. You
can obfuscate it, but if somebody really wants that information, they
can get it easily.

short question: How is it that somebody's lat long values are
sensitive information while pinpointing their location on a map is
not?

[John Coryat]

Probably the most common way to "hide" a coordinate is to obfuscate it. You can easily do this by randomizing the last couple digits of the coordinates. How much obfuscation is required is up to you. This would effectively eliminate the security concern but it also may lead to problems in the application. One way around this is to use an icon that doesn't have a point on the end of it, like a circle instead of a standard market. That way, the circle should effectively cover where the user is likely to be but won't pinpoint their exact location.

-John Coryat

Science and Technology News Aggregator

Twitter: http://twitter.com/coryat

G+: http://www.usnaviguide.com/+

[Rossko]

> Probably the most common way to "hide" a coordinate is to obfuscate it. You
> can easily do this by randomizing the last couple digits of the
> coordinates.

How effective that might be depends on the circumstance; not everyone
lives in a city, a mile-wide circle can still contain only one
dwelling

You're not telling us why you want to show-but-hide member locations;
perhaps there is another approach like showing the total number of
members in each city or county

[John Coryat]

> Probably the most common way to "hide" a coordinate is to obfuscate it. You
> can easily do this by randomizing the last couple digits of the
> coordinates.

How effective that might be depends on the circumstance; not everyone
lives in a city, a mile-wide circle can still contain only one
dwelling

You left out the qualifying statement:

"How much obfuscation is required is up to you."

The data would drive the degree of obfuscation.

--John Coryat

[JKurtock]

Consider using Fusion Tables; the displayed maps are tiles, and so the
lat/lng is not in the javascript.

Obviously, you would need to use javascript to limit zoom; concealing
the lat/lng does no good at all if you can zoom in close enough to
locate the parcel containing the address. Even then, someone familiar
with javascript can disable that and get to the fusion table itself
(which has to be public).

If that isn't enough for you, you could "round off" each lat lng.
This will have the effect of converting your lat/lngs into "box"
addresses, with the size of the box determined by how many digits you
round to. Keep in mind Rossko's comment about rural dwellers; your
"box" may sometimes contain only a single address.

- jeff