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GeoTagging -We Know Where You Live
Posted 07/31/2008 at 5:14:12pm | by Craig Young

Kelso, at Kelso Cartography, is concerned about the iPhone 3G’s ability to geotag photos, and cautions people about posting images with exact location. He gives a couple of examples of how evildoers browsing Flicker, or some other photo sharing site, can track you down through the GPS location information embedded in your photos. Perhaps a bit alarmist, but he does offer some solutions for people concerned with being stakled.

location reset
Click to Embiggen

The first fuil-proof solution, a no brainer, don't allow apps to to use your current location. The first time you launch a location enabled application, press “Don’t Allow” and off you go. You can also go to General Settings>Reset>Reset Location Warnings if you have inadvertently allowed locations to become active in an app and you wish to remove that feature. When you load the app next time just be sure to tap "Don't Allow" when it asks if you want to use your location.  

His second solution is app based, you can use PhotoInfoEditor for Macs to edit or erase GPS coordinates stored in photos EXIF file.  Allowing users to upload images without location, but coordinates are still available for personal or private use.  So, now you can upload images of your hydroponic garden on the web without the world knowing the exact location.

Kelso suggests photo sharing sites shouldn’t show geographic location as the default, unless viewers have permission.  Also, there should be an on/off toggle for Placename tags and GPS coordinates per photo. He also recommends a slider control for Placename and GPS location giving the person uploading images complete control of location info.

And there is the most oblivious solution, don’t post private images on the web.

COMMENTS: 1
TAGS:  GPS
COMMENTS
avatarGeotagging positive and negatives

Positives:

1. Help family and friends know where you are no matter where in the world you go.

2. Help emergency services track your location (useful for missing persons).

3. Help government agencies track terrorists, child pornography, etc.

Negatives:

1. People you don't know or don't want to know will be able to locate you.

2. Drains battery life faster.

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