For many of us, posting a photo of one's daily activities may seem like a pretty common thing to do in the world of Facebook and Flickr and in no way as a security risk. I felt the same until I read these two stories about Geotagging and their security Risks.
And the Scary One….
By looking at geotags and the text of posts, you can easily find out where people live, what kind of things they have in their house and also when they are going to be away. Such patterns make things easy for stalkers and may be for burglars.
What is Geotagging Anyway???
Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification to photographs, video, websites and SMS messages. It’s like storing the place where photo was taken or from where a message is posted.
Geotags are automatically embedded in pictures taken with smart phones. Many people are unaware of the fact that the photos they take with their smart phones and load to the Internet have been geotagged. Photos posted to photo sharing sites like Flickr and Picasa can also be tagged with location, but it is not an automatic function. Most modern digital cameras do not automatically add geolocation metadata to pictures, but that is not always true. Camera owners should study their camera’s manual and understand how to turn off GPS functions.
Location- based Social Networking Applications:
The other set of applications that can provide the location information is Locaton- based Social Networking Applications. Foursquare, Facebook Places, Gowalla, SCVNGR are some of the examples. Most location-based social networking applications focus on “checking in” at various locations to earn points, badges, discounts and other geo-related awards.
For example foursquare users “check-in” at various places using a mobile website. They are then awarded points and sometimes “badges.” Users of foursquare use the service to share their location with friends, meet new people and get coupons. Users can also connect and publish their “check ins” to Facebook and Twitter. If someone is not a friend on foursquare they can still track your whereabouts through Facebook.
Location-based social networking is quickly growing in popularity. Foursquare has over 4 million users. The increased popularity of these applications is changing the way we as a digital culture view security and privacy on an individual level.
What’s the Risk??
Establishes patterns: Location-based social networking applications allow strangers to track your movements every day. If they watch someone long enough they will know exactly when and where to find that person on any given day.
Exposes places of duty and home: By tracking movements and aggregating information, strangers can determine where someone lives and works.
What you can do??
- Avoid geotags on photo sharing applications
- Turn off GPS function on phones
- Be careful when using Locaion-based Social Networking Applications
- Be conscious of what you tweet or share on facebook
If you can't figure out how to disable the function, contact your smart phone provider, or the website www.icanstalku.com also has instructions for removing the geotag function on several different smart phones models. Check out the following link for the US Military Geotagging Awareness presentation, some of which applies to our social lives as well. http://dmna.state.ny.us/members/geotagging.pdf
Protecting your privacy is not just a matter of being aware and personally responsible since a friend may take a geotagged photo at your house and post it. You need to educate yourself and your friends but in the end, you really have no control.
PS: I don’t want to scare anyone by telling all this stuff, but just want to make sure our lives are safe & secure and warn about the potential security risks which can be avoided easily. So “share only what you want to share” and “share responsibly”.
Great Info Anna
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