[SOLVED] Do Google, Microsoft, Apple and other vendors share WIFI location databases?

[Rodion15]

I’m trying to better understand how my Windows laptop knows my precise location.

I learnt that if, for example, I open the Microsoft Maps app in my Windows laptop, it can pinpoint my exact location by checking online on a database Microsoft has, that tracks nearby WIFI Access Points MAC addresses to the GPS location that had been previously reported by GPS able devices such as smartphones nearby.

My doubt is: Do Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc, share this database?, or do they keep their databases independently, which would seem like a wasted effort.

I say this because, the way I understand this works (please correct me if I’m wrong), is that most Android phones report this WAP-to-GPS location to Google (I can’t see any Microsoft service or app reporting this in my Android phone settings), while Apple phones I guess report this to Apple.

So, how may a Windows 10 laptop pinpoint the location of nearby WAPs if there’re aren’t any phones updating their database? Aren’t these vendors just sharing these databases?

Any clarification much appreciated

 

[Nigel Spike]

Not sure what Microsoft Maps is, a Google search reveals Windows Maps and Bing Maps being related to MicroSoft.

Regardless, if I use Googlemaps on my smart phone (Android), it shows my current location if I have the GPS Locator turned on. If the Locator is turned off, it shows the last location I was on when I had the GPS Locator on.

If I use a map on my PC (inside a browser), my location is shown as where my ISP is registered, unless I am logged in to a MicroSoft or Google account, and I have saved my home as location when being logged in to that account.