Your location can be tracked from photos you post online...

Not sure if this would be the right thread but you government conspiracy guys will love this...

have you ever taken a photo and posted it online on any social network, picture sharing site, forum etc? even an innocent picture of your dog? think you can safely hide behind your username on here well think again...

News article

Phones camera's and other devices you use to take pictures that have GPS or similar encode the coordinates of where the photo was taken and in the "exif data" of the file, simply right clicking a file gives exact coordinates within around 15 feet, its as simple as right clicking the image selecting "view image exif data" and post the coordinates into google maps...

In the video a woman has taken a picture of her cat and they guy was able to pinpoint her exact address within seconds! I wonder how many people in this thread Post you pet pics! took the photograph in their house, maybe I'll take a quick look and forward all of your home addresses to TPTB

WOW! thanks for the heads up! We truly do have to look over our shoulders and question every single move we make!troubling times we live in were even taking a photo can turn into a invasion of privacy!

reply to post by roughycannon


Yet another reason not to own a Smart Phone..

reply to post by roughycannon


Couldn't the government do that just by checking your IP address ???

I'm pretty sure those guys have 101 ways of finding out who you are behind your online username if they really want to without the assistance of an uploaded photograph.

Woody

reply to post by roughycannon

If you have an android phone you can disable Geo-Location in the camera app settings. Also if you gps is not on this isn't that accurate, it will only pinpoint your location in between cell towers, which is usually a few hundred yards off.

If you were really concerned about your location and its availability on the internet, one would think you'd know about EXIF data already, haha.

This "Meta-data" can be edited as well using a program like Adobe Bridge. So if you were so inclined, you could obscure said location or change it entirely, before posting to the internet. Also note that some services like panoramio (sp?) are based on GPS meta data and use the EXIF to place the picture on a map.

Originally posted by woodwytch
reply to post by roughycannon

 

Couldn't the government do that just by checking your IP address ???

I'm pretty sure those guys have 101 ways of finding out who you are behind your online username if they really want to without the assistance of an uploaded photograph.

Woody

Yes the government possibly could - but not your average Joe Blow stalker nutcase. However with the Geo- tagging the OP is posting about any psycho could potentially track your location.

Yeah but this is giving the average joe a way to do it, did you see the bit in the video where a woman took a picture of her children's feet because they had new shoes and her address was found easily

The Matrix has you.
Welcome to the Panopticon.

This is my own personal observation.

This is the kind of cyber gang info that was shared on another site that exposed people to the reckless, vengeful activity of some people.

I don't worry about such things. If someone comes at me through a front door, I will confront. If someone comes at me through the back door....well, people who really know me what happens then.

reply to post by roughycannon


Not only that if your being watched your stupid phone can be remotly accessed and they can turn on your mic and video witout you even knowing. So if your phone is off this cannot be performed. On some phones it can be switched on.


Nice to know tid bits.

Originally posted by Soke33
This is my own personal observation.

This is the kind of cyber gang info that was shared on another site that exposed people to the reckless, vengeful activity of some people.

I don't worry about such things. If someone comes at me through a front door, I will confront. If someone comes at me through the back door....well, people who really know me what happens then.

You sound like a real bad ass and I'm sure you'd give Chuck Norris a run for his money but I seriously question your ass kicking ability when you're not home and someone breaks in because they liked the big screen tv in the background of the picture your wife took and posted on facebook.

Happy ass kicking though.

That trick, among others, has been used many times to humiliate and cause problems for certain females that think it is okay to post nude photos of themselves online. The pictures lead to names, addresses and facebook/myspace. Then all the friends/relatives/co-workers/parents/teachers/bosses get copies of the photos, her phone rings off the hook, the girls house gets a bunch of pizza deliveries and the girl's life is in ruins for a while. I've seen it happen many times.

It's usually a problem with iPhones as they are set by default to put GPS location in the EXIF. Android phones are set to off by default.

I was on 4chan once where some cam whore was posting pics of herself.
it was quickly found out that, from exif data, that she lived in australia.
coincidently one of the 4chan readers lived down the street from her and went over to her house.

I've checked on facebook to see if the exif data was available on mobile uploads. luckily enough it wasn't. However this can lead to alot of abuse.
definately turn off geolocation if you are doing something naughty.

Originally posted by Screwed

Originally posted by Soke33
This is my own personal observation.

This is the kind of cyber gang info that was shared on another site that exposed people to the reckless, vengeful activity of some people.

I don't worry about such things. If someone comes at me through a front door, I will confront. If someone comes at me through the back door....well, people who really know me what happens then.

You sound like a real bad ass and I'm sure you'd give Chuck Norris a run for his money but I seriously question your ass kicking ability when you're not home and someone breaks in because they liked the big screen tv in the background of the picture your wife took and posted on facebook.

Happy ass kicking though.

You assume a lot of things. LOL!

If someone gets past my security system and steals my TV or anything else, it can be replaced or even recovered because they would be on film stealing it. Even if someone steals something that isn't easily replaced or recovered, it's still only stuff.

I was thinking more about safety for the life in my home. If I'm not home, I suppose they could kill my dogs, and that would surely hurt. However, if someone kills my dogs for selfish purposes, they have more darkness in them than an ass kicking from us could do to them.

If someone looks in our windows and sees us bare assed, they are a sick individual to spend their time doing such disgusting things. Doesn't change the fact that we all have bare asses.

I refuse to live a paranoid life. I am a firm believer in karma and all that, "Live by the sword, die by the sword" advice. I've lived to see it in action.

I used to have this neighbor who was a loud mouth, drunken punk. He caused all kinds of problems, which led to a confrontation between us one day, and it included a call to the local police. After I had returned home, I heard his mouth next door talking, "She isn't going to like us too much." I went back out to tell him that we already didn't, to make sure he had noticed. The next night, he suffered a collapsed lung. I thought, 'That's what he gets fro running his mouth.' A few weeks later, the same guy fell in a drunken stupor and caused permanent damage to his knee. I didn't think much about it, until I had some static on my phone line a short time later. The phone repair man told me that the box on the back of the house had been opened, and the wires corroded from the elements. When I discussed this with a neighbor, I learned that the drunk punk would mess with the phone boxes of people that he didn't like. I smiled, knowing that is where he got his knee problems.

that is very interesting ... but with the new smart phones i think there is an option to have the gps track your place where you took the picture ... i think you can disable it ...

My location can be extrapolated through my IP and ISP. Why would they wade through pic after pic to find out where I am is beyond me. I understand the point being made...But it's really not that big of a deal.

reply to post by roughycannon


We don't have that problem on ATS, the Media Portal removes the EXIF data.

reply to post by ArMaP


So, if we look at the exif data from NASA photos and it says 'nevada' instead of 'moon'...

Just kidding

Originally posted by Chakotay
reply to post by ArMaP

 

So, if we look at the exif data from NASA photos and it says 'nevada' instead of 'moon'...

Just kidding

edit on 8-2-2011 by Chakotay because: CLASSIFIED

How hilarious would that be...