Geode: The Firefox Add-On That Knows Where You Are

Mozilla has launched Geode an add-on designed to help you find your way around while you’re on vacation. Launched as an add-on for Firefox, Geode as a preview of location technology to be incorporated into Firefox 3.1.

Geolocation (to be incorporated in future version of Firefox) supports the new W3C Geolocation Specification, which adds the native ability for websites to request your location (whether you choose to give them this information is left up to you). Geode provides an early implementation of this specification.

Using Skyhook’s Loki technology, Geode maps the WiFi signals in your area to your location. Unlike normal GPS-based methods, which can take upwards of 45 seconds for a lock, Geode works both inside and outside with an accuracy of between 10 to 20 meters, normally within a second.

While the company boasts about the advantages of using Geode abroad to find restaurants, hotels, landmarks and whatever else you might want to find on holidays, Mozilla hopes that this location technology will prove useful for more than just your vacation in the future. From automatically adjusting your RSS feeds depending on whether you’re at home or work to making sure the local news you’re reading is really local, Mozilla feels like there is an abundance of opportunity for Geode and it’s successor.

For those interested or worried, Geode is of course an optional feature, you don’t like the idea, don’t use it. Both location and IP information is sent to Skyhook, every time a website is granted access to your location. Skyhook’s privacy policy is that they do not store or use any personal identifying information, and promise to only keep data in anonymized aggregate. Mozilla says the ultimate plan for Firefox is that service providers and geolocation methods will be pluggable and user selectable to provide users with as many choices and privacy options as possible.