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description: Geoclue maintainer Zeeshan Ali shares recent updates to the Geoclue D-Bus geolocation service. Key changes include migrating from autotools to Meson for faster...
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og:description: Geoclue maintainer Zeeshan Ali shares recent updates to the Geoclue D-Bus geolocation service. Key changes include migrating from autotools to Meson for faster...
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> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Recently in Geoclue

**[Collabora Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/collabora)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

Geoclue maintainer Zeeshan Ali shares recent updates to the Geoclue D-Bus geolocation service. Key changes include migrating from autotools to Meson for faster builds, moving from Bugzilla to GitLab on freedesktop.org for easier contributions, and rethinking the app authorization model to better support non-GNOME users via Flatpak portals. A notable improvement uses WiFi geolocation (via Mozilla Location Service) even for city-level accuracy requests, but randomizes the result to protect privacy. The post also raises concern about the uncertain future of Mozilla Location Service (MLS), which lost active development after Firefox OS was abandoned, and calls on companies relying on MLS to get involved in securing its future.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://www.collabora.com/news-and-blog/blog/2018/10/12/recently-in-geoclue>

## Questions this post answers

### Why does Geoclue use WiFi geolocation even when an app only requests city-level accuracy?

Geoclue switched to using WiFi geolocation for city-level accuracy requests because GeoIP databases are unreliable for a significant portion of IP addresses, causing apps like GNOME Weather and GNOME Clocks to show incorrect locations. To address privacy concerns, the returned location is randomized enough so apps don't receive more precise data than they requested, while still benefiting from WiFi accuracy.

_Developers building location-aware Linux apps can track Geoclue decisions like this on daily.dev._

### What is the current status of Mozilla Location Service (MLS) and is it still maintained?

Mozilla Location Service is still running and accepting user-contributed WiFi data, but it is no longer actively developed or maintained. Mozilla's interest in MLS was tied to the Firefox OS project, which was abandoned, causing Mozilla to deprioritize MLS. The service remains available but its long-term future is uncertain, prompting calls for companies relying on it to help secure its continuation.

_Teams depending on open source geolocation infrastructure can follow developments like this on daily.dev._

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---

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