A WeChat User Geolocating Algorithm Based on the Relation Between Reported and Actual Distance

The accuracy of existing geolocation methods for WeChat users depends on the stable correspondence between reported distance and actual distance. In view of the difficulty to pinpoint users’ location in real-world due to WeChat location protection strategy, a WeChat User geolocating Algorithm based on reported and actual distance relation analysis is proposed. Firstly, statistical characteristics of the relation between reported distance and actual distance are obtained based on collected data. Secondly, optimization parameters are selected based on these characteristics to determine the space where the target user is located. Finally, stepwise strategies are taken to improve the accuracy rate of space partition. Experimental results show that, on the premise that target users can be discovered, the proposed algorithm could achieve higher accuracy compared with the classical space partition based algorithm and the heuristic number theory based algorithm. The highest geolocating accuracy is within 10 m and 56% of geolocation results are within 60 m.