Hulu Location Cookie Spoof

Skip to the code!

The Problem

This warning appears when you have logged in to Hulu with location services disabled in your browser. Hulu’s privacy policy is concerning, but thankfully there is a simple way to spoof a cookie to circumvent the need for location services.

This cookie is not used to determine your local TV stations. That appears to depend on the user’s IP address. This cookie may be part of the personal information that Hulu uses when selling advertising to third parties. However, Hulu requires this cookie even when the account pays to view content without ads.

The Solution

Type the following in your browser’s console (F12 on Firefox for Linux) and refresh the page. Most browsers will save this command, allowing you to quickly type “↑” and retrieve the command when you need it.

The string format is [latitude]&[longitude]&[timestamp].

// New York
document.cookie = "geo=41&70&" + Date.now();

// Los Angeles
document.cookie = "geo=34&118&" + Date.now();

// Null Island (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_Island)
document.cookie = "geo=0&0&" + Date.now();

// North Pole
document.cookie = "geo=90&0&" + Date.now();

// Remind Hulu that you're on the North Pole once per hour.
// UPDATE: This does not work anymore. If you manage to get an automatic
// reminder working, please let me know!
setTimeout(() => {
    document.cookie = "geo=90&0&" + Date.now();
}, 3600000);