User geolocation method for Joyrun mobile application based on reported distance feature

ZHANG Bing; WANG Jilin; SHI Wenqi; LIU Ruiting; LUO Xiangyang

doi:10.11959/j.issn.2096-109x.2025055

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User geolocation method for Joyrun mobile application based on reported distance feature

Papers | 更新时间：2025-11-08

- User geolocation method for Joyrun mobile application based on reported distance feature
- Chinese Journal of Network and Information Security Vol. 11, Issue 5, Pages: 172-188(2025)
- 作者机构：
  
  1.郑州大学网络空间安全学院，河南郑州 450002
  2.河南省网络空间态势感知重点实验室，河南郑州 450001
  3.中国航天系统科学与工程研究院，北京 100037
- 作者简介：
- 基金信息：
  
  The National Natural Science Foundation of China(U23A20305;62172435);The National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFB3102900);The Key Research and Development Project of Henan Province(221111321200)
- DOI：10.11959/j.issn.2096-109x.2025055
  CLC： TP309
- Received：23 March 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-05-26，
  
  Published：25 October 2025
- 稿件说明：
移动端阅览
张冰, 王跻霖, 时文旗, 等. 基于通告距离特性的"悦跑圈"移动应用用户定位方法[J]. 网络与信息安全学报, 2025, 11(5): 172-188.

ZHANG B, WANG J L, SHI W Q, et al. User geolocation method for Joyrun mobile application based on reported distance feature[J]. Chinese Journal of Network and Information Security, 2025, 11(5): 172-188.
张冰, 王跻霖, 时文旗, 等. 基于通告距离特性的"悦跑圈"移动应用用户定位方法[J]. 网络与信息安全学报, 2025, 11(5): 172-188. DOI： 10.11959/j.issn.2096-109x.2025055.

ZHANG B, WANG J L, SHI W Q, et al. User geolocation method for Joyrun mobile application based on reported distance feature[J]. Chinese Journal of Network and Information Security, 2025, 11(5): 172-188. DOI： 10.11959/j.issn.2096-109x.2025055.

摘要

开展移动应用用户定位研究对于分析敏感目标用户地理位置、线下打击网络犯罪具有重要现实意义。现有移动应用用户定位技术通常基于用户发布文本、社交关系或系统通告距离，存在定位偏差大、需目标用户开启位置分享功能等不足。为此，考虑到运动健身类移动应用往往默认开启用户位置分享服务，且拥有庞大的用户规模，提出一种针对主流运动健身应用“悦跑圈”的用户定位方法，以期为用户定位提供一条新途径。首先，设计一种基于距离递增的探针动态部署算法，以识别“悦跑圈”通告距离对应的真实距离边界和分段临界区间；其次，在潜在区域等距部署探针以发现用户，并设计一种基于象限判定探针部署的初步定位算法，实现对用户的粗粒度定位；最后，为提升定位精度，设计一种基于通告距离分段临界点查找的细粒度用户定位算法，利用距离特性部署探针以确定用户所处的象限，并结合二分法确定分段临界点，基于三边测量推断敏感用户的具体位置。基于300个“悦跑圈”用户点位开展定位实验，结果表明所提方法可实现“悦跑圈”用户的精确定位，平均定位误差为1.86 m，99%用户的定位误差小于10 m，与基于空间划分、启发式数论等典型的用户定位方法相比，平均定位误差降低85.08%。

Abstract

The implementation of mobile application user positioning was recognized as crucial for analyzing the geographic locations of sensitive target network users and combating cybercrime through offline means. Existing mobile application user positioning technologies were found to rely on users’ published texts

social relationships

or system-reported distances

resulting in significant positioning deviations and requiring users to enable location-sharing functions. Given that mobile sports and fitness applications frequently had location-sharing enabled by default and possessed large user bases

a geolocation method targeting the mainstream fitness application Joyrun was developed to provide a novel approach to user positioning. A distance-incremental probe dynamic deployment algorithm was designed to identify the real distance boundary and the threshold interval corresponding to the Joyrun report distance. Next

probes were deployed equidistantly in potential areas to discover users

and a preliminary localization algorithm based on quadrant determination was formulated for coarse-grained user localization. To enhance accuracy

a fine-grained user localization algorithm based on report distance segmentation threshold finding was designed. Distance features were utilized to deploy probes for determining the user quadrant

and combined with the bisection method for identifying segmentation thresholds

the specific location of sensitive users was inferred through trilateration. Localization experiments were conducted based on 300 Joyrun users. The results demonstrate that the proposed method could achieve accurate localization of Joyrun users. The average localization error is measured as 1.86 m

with 99% of localization errors being less than 10 m. Compared to typical user positioning methods based on spatial segmentation and heuristic number theory

the average positioning error is reduced by 85.08%.

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references

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