GeoIP2 Release Notes - 2021 Archive

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (December 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of December as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

Due to the December holidays, we will not be providing database updates for certain databases next Friday, December 24 and Friday, December 31. The following GeoIP2 databases will not have their regularly scheduled updates:

• GeoIP2 Country
• GeoIP2 City
• GeoIP2 ISP
• GeoIP2 Enterprise

The GeoIP2 Anonymous IP database will continue to update as scheduled.

We will resume our regular update schedule beginning on Tuesday, January 4.

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we will not be providing database updates for certain databases this Friday, November 26. The following GeoIP2 databases will not have their regularly scheduled update:

• GeoIP2 Country
• GeoIP2 City
• GeoIP2 ISP
• GeoIP2 Enterprise

The GeoIP2 Anonymous IP database will continue to update as scheduled.

We will resume our regular update schedule beginning on Tuesday, November 30.

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (November 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of November as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

We completed our most recent review and update of geolocation for Crimea. Our accuracy has increased as follows:

• Approximately 96% of website visitors who are from Crimea are currently located by GeoIP2 as being in Crimea.
• Approximately 99% of the visitors who are located in Crimea by GeoIP2 are actually in Crimea.

Due to the nature of geolocation technology and other factors beyond our control, we cannot guarantee any specific future accuracy level. Further, accuracy figures are subject to change as IP networks are reallocated.

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (October 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of October as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

We are releasing an update for our GeoIP2 Country, City, and Enterprise databases, and for our GeoIP2 Country, City Plus, and Insights web services to fix a bug that geolocated about 0.1% of IP addresses located in Japan to the wrong country and the wrong coordinates.

When the updated databases are released today, you will be able to download them via your account portal, or using your GeoIP Update program. If you use any of the GeoIP2 web services, you will have access to the updated data with no further action required.

Effective October 4, 2021, the minimum accuracy radius value will be 5km across our city/postal-level geolocation products and services. Previously, the minimum accuracy radius value was 1km. This change applies to the following products and services:

• GeoIP2 City database
• GeoLite2 City database
• GeoIP2 Enterprise database
• GeoIP2 City Plus web service
• GeoIP2 Insights web service
• minFraud Insights and Factors web services

We are making this change in order to ensure it is clear that IP geolocation should not be used to identify a particular street address or household.

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (September 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of September as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

We have updated our data in a number of ways in preparation for the rollout of iCloud Private Relay. We have worked with Apple to ensure that our data accurately reflects how Private Relay works and delivers the best possible user experience for your users.

• Geolocation data across our products and services now incorporate the IP geolocation feeds published by Apple, which provides coarse city or region geolocation mappings for iCloud Private Relay IPs.
• We identify iCloud Private Relay IPs in our ISP dataset (present in our GeoIP2 ISP and Enterprise databases, and in our GeoIP2 Insights web service) by tagging ranges as iCloud Private Relay.

Apple has shared the following assurances built into Private Relay:

• Geolocation information for clients is validated by the relay servers using signed tokens, and visible to origins through the IP addresses selected by relay servers.
  • A user is not able to arbitrarily select their geolocation to evade geolocation controls.
• Access to relay servers is rate-limited using device attestation to reduce fraud.
• All traffic is secured using TLS 1.3.

To ensure your website and servers are ready for Private Relay, database customers should be sure to update to the latest MaxMind GeoIP2 databases.

In order to get ISP data that includes Private Relay IPs, update to the latest GeoIP2 ISP or Enterprise database. In order to get geolocation data for Private Relay IPs, update to the latest GeoIP2 City or Enterprise database.

GeoIP2 Insights customers do not need to take any action to receive this data. It will be returned in the /traits/isp and /traits/organization outputs.

For more information about Private Relay along with helpful technical information, visit Prepare Your Network or Web Server for Private Relay on Apple’s developer website.

We will continue to monitor these IPs and make any adjustments that are needed in the future.

We will be mapping more mobile (cellular) networks to a state (subdivision) rather than a city for the United States and other countries. This change will better reflect the end user location of these IP addresses across a region instead of a specific city.

For example, many of these networks use IP addresses across a region like “New England.” In such cases, we may map IP addresses to a state in the geographic center of the region, and set the accuracy_radius and subdivision_confidence values appropriately. See our Support Center documentation on GeoIP2 accuracy for more information about accuracy_radius values.

These changes will be implemented incrementally. Some IP addresses will reflect this change on September 2, 2021, and additional IP addresses will be updated on September 13, 2021.

The file sizes of the GeoIP2 Country, City, and Enterprise databases, and the GeoLite2 Country and City databases will increase significantly on Friday, August 20, 2021. The file size increase is due to the activation of a large number of IPv6 network ranges.

• GeoIP2 Country
  • Binary (MMDB): increase less than 1% to approximately 5.7 MB
  • CSV IPv6 Blocks File: increase less than 1% to approximately 15 MB
• GeoIP2 City
  • Binary (MMDB): increase around 2% to approximately 126 MB
  • CSV IPv6 Blocks File: increase around 8% to approximately 10.8 MB
• GeoIP2 Enterprise
  • Binary (MMDB): increase less than 1% to approximately 364 MB
  • CSV IPv6 Blocks File: increase around 7% to approximately 160 MB

Update: The changes in file size were not as significant as initially forecast. We are working to establish processes that will allow us to provide better notification about a change in database file size.

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (August 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of August as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (July 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of July as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (June 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of June as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

* This month’s update includes a significant number of changes to city_names in Ukraine and geoname_ids in Brazil.

We now update GeoIP2 Country, City, ISP, and Enterprise databases (and most of their legacy equivalents) twice weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays (instead of weekly). We made this change so that data corrections and location updates can be deployed more quickly.

If you would like to take advantage of these more frequent updates, you will have to update the schedule of your GeoIP2 database downloads. You can find documentation on updating your GeoIP2 databases on our developer’s site.

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (May 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of May as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

* This month’s update includes a significant number of changes to subdivision codes in Algeria and Lithuania.

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (April 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of April as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (March 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of March as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

* This month’s update includes changes that should improve overall accuracy of city-level name data.

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (February 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of February as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.

We will be mapping more mobile (cellular) networks to a state (subdivision) rather than a city for Telstra Internet IPs in Australia, as well as other mobile networks in France and other countries. This change will better reflect the traffic distribution of these IP addresses across a state.

These changes will be implemented incrementally. Some IP addresses will reflect this change on February 2, 2021, and additional IP addresses will be updated on February 16, 2021.

On Monday, January 25 we will be updating MaxMind products and services with ISP data to consolidate naming conventions for Vodafone Germany. We will now return either Vodafone Germany Cable, Vodafone Germany DSL, Vodafone Germany Business, or Vodafone Germany. Previous values were Vodafone GmbH, Vodafone Germany, and Vodafone DSL. We are updating these values to more accurately reflect the type of connection that the IP address is associated with.

The following GeoIP databases and services are affected by this change:

• GeoIP2 ISP database
• GeoIP2 Enterprise database
• GeoIP Legacy ISP and Organization databases
• GeoIP2 City Plus and Legacy City Web Service
• GeoIP2 and Legacy Insights Web Service
• minFraud Insights
• minFraud Factors

GeoNames Monthly Diff Report (January 2021)

GeoIP2 and GeoLite2 databases incorporate GeoNames geographical data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monthly updates to GeoNames data are incorporated into our databases as we refresh them. Above you will find a CSV report of these changes for the month of January as they relate to the following fields:

• geoname_id
• country_name
• country_code
• city_name
• subdivision_1_iso_code
• subdivision_2_iso_code

Note that the values for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ columns for a given field only differ for the field defined in the ‘diff_in’ column.