Do websites think I'm in another country? Cookies?

[rlee_la]

Hello, I live in California where we have the relatively new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which forces websites to give us options to disable their cookies.  I have disabled some cookies that various websites request from me.  I wonder if disabling cookies has affected my browsing experience, or if maybe I have malware.

Over the last 2 weeks, I rejoined Netflix, and the Netflix website must have deducted that I was in Latin America, because the language of the website was in Spanish.  Today, I tried to register a Phillips electric toothbrush for warranty, and on Chrome, the registration page was in Arabic, while in Edge, the registration page was in Czech.  I was able to log into my Phillips account, and the registration page was then shown to me in English.

Do you think these results are due to my disabling some cookies?  Thanks so much for your support.

[AdvancedSetup]

Hello @rlee_la

It's possible depending on what is stored in a cookie but that's not typical, often sites you visit examine your computer via a live Javascript and other web programs to determine where you're located.

Are you using any type of VPN software?

If you like you can run the following and we'll take a look at the logs to see if we find anything wrong and let you know.

 

Please download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool and save it to your desktop.

Note: You need to run the version compatible with your system.
You can check here if you're not sure if your computer is 32-bit or 64-bit

• Double-click to run it. When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.
• Press the Scan button.
• It will make a log (FRST.txt) in the same directory the tool is run. Please attach it to your reply.
• The first time the tool is run, it also makes another log (Addition.txt). Please attach it to your reply as well.

Thank you

 

 

[rlee_la]

Hello,

Thanks so much.  I am NOT using a VPN.  Is there a way to check my Javascript settings?

Attached please find my Farbar logs.  Thanks again.

FRST.txt Addition.txt

[AdvancedSetup]

It's very possible that it's due to Avira

R2 AviraPhantomVPN; C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\VPN\Avira.VpnService.exe [384360 2020-07-06] (Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG -> Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG)

Try cleaning Google Chrome.
https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/258886-chrome-secure-preferences-detection-always-returns/

 

The temporarily setup Google Public DNS and see if that corrects the issue

https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using

I'm about off work but will try to check back on you tonight if I can otherwise will check back tomorrow morning

Thanks

 

 

[rlee_la]

Hi again,

I cleaned Google Chrome on my laptop per the instructions.  I don't think I can clean Google Chrome on my iPhone because Malwarebytes is not an iOS app, correct?

So far, so good.  But the problem has only occurred a few times, so we'll see if it pops back up.  I will reach out again if it does recur.

Thanks again.

[AdvancedSetup]

The cleaning of Google Chrome on the phone can be done too - you don't need Malwarebytes to clean Chrome. I don't have a link for cleaning on smartphone but if needed I'm sure I can locate one.

 

[AdvancedSetup]

Okay, quick search and these 3 look like they should work on the iPhone

https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95589?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS&hl=en

https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS&hl=en

https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2392709?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS&hl=en

 

 

[rlee_la]

Thanks again.  So far, so good....  Can you please leave this thread open for a while so I can see if I run into the issue again?

[AdvancedSetup]

No problem. I'll move it to the normal Malwarebytes for Windows forum and leave it open.

Cheers @rlee_la