@Mac : ok for the query to an outside server. But there are plenty of global IP data lists for countries and some other information, and updated on day basis or every week. It's just to get information about a friend quickly. There is no harm in updating that list. You give no information and get none specific to your friend IP. It's global.
In fact you're safer and your friends are safer if you get all the data you need for every friend.
Actually I already do that and I also get some kind of location data (the NRA in some cases) which points out the area of the location at some hundred meters in towns and some kilometers in the country land. If I would be willing to go any further I would be able to ping to get the specific lag from that IP and maybe suppose its distance from the NRA. But there is no need for such a precision only if I am willing to search on a map to try to find who I would not want to be connected with in that area.
For instance, supposing I would be willing to avoid spam, evil and companies spying on Oneswarm, I'd rather expect my friends to be among people connected at home. If I find an area of offices, like a district with plenty of skyscraper or an area full of companies, I may block that friend. However there's big trouble getting that info and plenty of time to spend, which I explained is possible, but rather sick.
But, if I could get the information of that IP, on the IP data list with those companies, I would use that info and it would bring quite a good safety. Of course you can imagine other reasons to play safe and the IP of your friend is all you get easily.
I am not expecting for all that data I wrote about, from Oneswarm, but I rather think country and country flag is something very useful and easy to get and maybe applying filters based on data lists of IP or giving out the information from detailed filters that are frequently updated is very easy to implement is something harmless for privacy but very useful for safety which maybe is also a way to protect your privacy.
This is already somehow implemented in original Azureus/Vuze.
Also thinking about the name and the principle of that software, friend to friend, is also about trust between people. After all, even limited friends can see some of what goes and comes from your IP and whatever you do, even if it's encrypted and you don't know what's inside you still pass them. So it's rather better to have trustful fiends however well you may protect the data.