Adam Savage, host of “MythBusters,” posted a picture of his Toyota Land Cruiser on Twitter. His cruiser was parked by his house and the Twitter caption read, “Now it’s off to work.” He revealed to not only his fans but burglars that he would not be home, and without realizing it, he posted the location of his home. There was not an address in the photo or a license plate to even reveal what state Savage lived in. Instead, his home’s location was exposed by a geotag.
Geotags are embedded in photographs and even videos that are taken with digital cameras and smartphones that are GPS equipped. The geotag shows the latitude and longitude of where a picture was taken. When Adam Savage took the photo of his vehicle and posted it on Twitter, the geotag was also posted. A burglar could have looked up the longitude and latitude and robbed Savage’s home while he was away at work.
Geotags can be disabled, but Savage failed to do so. He said, “I guess it was a lack of concern because I’m not nearly famous enough to be stalked, and if I am, I want a raise.”
The main problem with geotags is few people realize they are there, and they do not know how to disable them. Peter Eckersley, a staff technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco, told the New York Times, “I’d say very few people know about geotag capabilities, and consent is sort of a slippery slope when the only way you can turn off the function on your smartphone is through an invisible menu that no one really knows about.”
Photos posted on YouTube, Craigslist, Twitter and personal blogs can all be traced for a latitude and longitude. Burglars searching the internet can look for a geotagged photo with accompanying text such as “gone on vacation” or “away at work.” Pictures also reveal desirable items like fancy cars and electronics that burglars want. Researchers at the International Computer Science Institute at the University of California said, “Any 16-year-old with basic programming skills can do this.” In other words, creeps and burglars can figure out where your home is and steal your possessions.
Some sites like Facebook and Match.com remove geotags from photos, but most sites do not. If you want to turn off the geotag function, visit ICanStalkU.com. This website gives step-by-step instructions for BlackBerry, iPhone and Android devices so you can deactivate geotagging and protect your privacy.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/technology/personaltech/12basics.html
