Google Services determined my country with VPN turned on

Calculator

I have clear, but not new Private Space after last installation of Google Services (I reinstall them for every disposable account)
Started downloading Google Services from App Store without VPN.
While it was downloading I installed and started a VPN service (Mullvad) in Private Space
Finished downloading and installed Google Services with VPN turned on
Opened Google Services and started creating a disposable Google account
Google asked me for my phone number, and there was a flag of my country (VPN exit country was different).

How Google was able to determine my location with VPN on?
Can there be some vulnerability that allowed Google to do this?
Can Google determine user's location during downloading of Google Services?
Maybe I made an error and exposed myself?

DeletedUser217

Do you have a SIM card installed and were you in airplane mode?

Calculator

DeletedUser217 I have SIM installed, airplane mode on

DeletedUser69

Given permissions apps can access your sim country code and system timezone not your physical location unless you go out of your way to allow it to happen

Probably9857

DeletedUser69 has the right answer, except to add that no special permissions are required for apps to access the SIM country code (or system timezone, but in this case it is most likely the SIM that is being used).

DeletedUser87

I'll let you in on a secret: nowadays, no fortune 500 company will be using your IP to determine location and it's the exact reason why I'm against VPNs. They provide a false sense of security, as you have seen yourself. Google can use a different set (or a combination) of identifiers to determine your location, such as locale settings, location services, devices on the same network and much more. How exactly do they do that? I don't know. Might even be that the VPN didn't route the newly installed Play Services through the tunnel yet when you opened it.

DeletedUser95

DeletedUser87

I agree. A VPN physically cannot provide defense against most forms of tracking and any company trying to tell people otherwise is lying. VPNs can provide security benefits in some cases and the IP hiding can be useful in some cases though I wouldn't really say privacy wise. At best in terms of privacy it could prevent your precise location from being learnt but any sophisticated individual or very well made invasive app/website could still get a decent idea of where people live.

I still use a VPN regardless though but that's just me. As it's either me choosing that or a custom DNS which would still have the drawback of me having to trust that it doesn't log or sell my data. Which for my use case I decided that a VPN was the better option. Unless there's some substantial benefit to a custom DNS that I am not aware of that is.

mhbcrypto

I suppose if your phone is sending Google data about local WiFi networks and bluetooth devices they could use that information to determine your actual location. Other mobile phones in your area are probably sending that information to Google as well.

DeletedUser87

DeletedUser95 for the security benefits it makes a lot of sense to run a VPN. It's just my own VPN at home that I use for that. I discussed the VPN problem some time ago in detail already, but the main point, is that I don't want to trust another party. My home network also has an AdGuard Home instance running with DoH to Quad9. I feel that's the best setup for DNS. I can also monitor my traffic pretty effectively via OPNSense, which would also go to waste if I used some proprietary VPN service. It's just a personal preference and everyone is free to do whatever they want. I for one decided to take control of my digital world and have all relevant ("cloud") services running at home on my own hardware. No raids, no black boxes and no FISA court orders can really harm me in that regard. It has the downside of having to take security into your own hands, but it's not guaranteed any other company would be able to do their job properly either (Lastpass, Fortinet, Cisco, etc.).