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Ask HN: Less Evil Alternative to MaxMind GeoIP Db?

15 points by sethito ↗ HN
I've been using the geoip db from MaxMind for over a decade now; however, I've noticed the accuracy of both the free and paid dbs have fallen to unacceptable levels. I also recently learned that it is against their aup to build publicly facing systems based on their data (https://www.maxmind.com/en/sitelicense).

Are there any accurate alternatives that don't use MaxMind's free db?

10 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 28.0 ms ] thread
phoenix69
http://www.w3schools.com/html/html5_geolocation.asp
sethito
That works great until the user pushes "No, I don't want you go geolocate me".
sarciszewski
If the user doesn't want to be geolocated, why are you going to geolocate them?
dangrossman
Basic web stats reports. Checking that you're getting the geotargeting you paid for when you advertise. Preventing credit card fraud (billing address in one country, user located in another, detecting open proxies, etc). Lots of reasons geolocation has been used since long before browsers had a mobile-style API for it on the client side.
sarciszewski
And if the user withdraws their consent (clicking "No", DNT headers, etc.) that should be the end of it. Don't locate, don't track, don't subvert user's consent.

Just flag it as "no location information available" if you need to use it for an access control/fraud prevention mechanism and be aware that determined bad guys can spoof almost every signal you receive from them.

mavelikara
I have had good success with NeuStar.
thenomad
What are the costs associated with that?
mavelikara
They were about the same cost or slightly more than the MaxMind paid version.
mulligan
I can understand the policy and I'm not sure it makes them evil. You could build a publicly facing system that was simply an API into their database, thus providing the public with the data you licensed.