Comment Not location but time (Score 1) 109
I think I saw this on the Discovery channel a couple of years ago.
An AC grid does not keep perfect time. It will vary by a few hundredths of a HZ when certain things happen, like increased load during commercials, dropped load as people go to work and even when wind speed suddenly increases making the wind turbines contribute more.
All these things make a unique time signature for that mains hum on any given power grid. If you have a nationwide grid, as found in most developed countries, this is the same everywhere but if you are on just a regional one, that will narrow it down for the spooks and they will know you are in that particular region too.