# A security warning about cameras



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

The other thread reminded me of this, and it's important enough to make sure people know about it.

Several of the newer cameras (and devices that have cameras built-in) also include GPS chips.  Depending on how your camera is configured, it may be embedding GPS information inside the image file.

That means that when you post these images on the internet, you're letting everyone know where they were taken.

There's a website out there (that I've seen - there's probably more than one), where people will upload photos they found on the web, and the website will not only extract the GPS info, but also bring up a satellite map and allow you to drill down to the exact location where the photo was taken.

Most of the photos uploaded to this website were self-shots of women standing in front of mirrors in various stages of undress.  And the satellite images allowed you to view the exact house where the photo was taken, along with street-level views.

In other words, a stalker's paradise.

So, be careful.  And make sure your kids who have these phones are careful too.  Most of the cameras have an option for turning off this feature.

And if you have any mirror self-shots you want to verify are clear of this location data, send them to me and I'll check them out.  (    just kidding!)


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## Guest (Jul 29, 2011)

swolf said:


> And if you have any mirror self-shots you want to verify are clear of this location data, send them to me and I'll check them out. (  just kidding!)


Why, so you can use them for your next cover?  jk

On a serious note, this is a good thing to bring up. Too many people take indiscreet pictures and don't realize how impossible they are to delete once posted online. Adding GPS to the equation is like throwing gasoline on a flame! Good job looking out for everyone, sir.


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## PG4003 (Patricia) (Jan 30, 2010)

Maybe women who stand in front of a mirror and take their picture in various stages of undress WANT to be seen


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

PG4003 (Patricia) said:


> Maybe women who stand in front of a mirror and take their picture in various stages of undress WANT to be seen


They may want to be seen, but they probably don't want some weirdo parked outside their house, following them around.

Plus, I bet a lot of those photos were intended to be privately viewed by boyfriends, and then the relationship went south, and well, you know how that goes.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Z.D. Robinson said:


> Why, so you can use them for your next cover?  jk


   

My secret is out.


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## kindlescribbler.com (Jul 28, 2011)

that's horrifiying. 

how do you know if your images have gps info embedded. would it show up if I right click 'image info'?

(not that i have dirty pictures up- just curious)


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

kindlescribbler.com said:


> that's horrifiying.
> 
> how do you know if your images have gps info embedded. would it show up if I right click 'image info'?
> 
> (not that i have dirty pictures up- just curious)


Just right-clicking in Windows wouldn't show it. You would need a program that displays the exif (exchangeable image file format) data from an image. If you google 'image exif', you should find something.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

kindlescribbler.com said:


> that's horrifiying.
> 
> how do you know if your images have gps info embedded. would it show up if I right click 'image info'?
> 
> (not that i have dirty pictures up- just curious)


Eeek! It wouldn't even have to be dirty pictures, kindlescribbler -- I could post a picture of my cat someplace and it would effectively let total strangers know where I live. Good thing my camera isn't a fancy newer model! But thank you for posting this, swolf; it will be something to watch out for in future camera purchases.


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Waaaaait... _WHAT_ fancier phone cameras??


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

This is actually a feature for professional photographers (and hobbyists too I suppose) and isn't really there to be a Big Brother style way of being cyberstalked.  It sounds like something one of those alarmist "news" shows would pick up as a feature on a slow news day.  So yeah, sure be careful with your camera settings, but it's not some wolf in sheep's clothing hiding in your camera just to get you.  It's a legitimate and quite handy feature that many photographers have paid extra to have in years prior that is just now making it more mainstream as a built in feature since more and more devices share both cameras and GPS abilities now.


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## Ilyria Moon (May 14, 2011)

Scheherazade said:


> isn't really there to be a Big Brother style way of being cyberstalked. It sounds like something one of those alarmist "news" shows would pick up as a feature on a slow news day. So yeah, sure be careful with your camera settings


Yeah, it's just there to be our friend and oh so essential for photographers' quality of images.


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

ilyria_moon said:


> Yeah, it's just there to be our friend and oh so essential for photographers' quality of images.


I'm detecting sarcasm here, so if I'm wrong forgive me. No, it doesn't help with the quality of the image, but it does help photographers keep track of where they have taken their photos and at what time. Just like you could say the camera settings don't help the image after the fact, those can be stored as well in order to help the photographer have a record of what settings they used under what lighting conditions. Knowing the location and the time of the shot is not only a great tool for organizing the photos, but it also allows them to go back to that exact spot and take more of them if they notice something while flipping through the photos later at home that intrigues them.

Is it as useful for people that just take pictures of whatever? No. But for people who takes hundreds of shots of a single spot just to get that perfect image, then yes it is essential for some of them to have a record of where those shots were taken. Especially when many of those spots tend to be out in the middle of nowhere with no landmarks to go by.


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

Most cameras need a separate GPS addon. I imagine this is mostly a concern with phones. If your phone _camera _had GPS it would probably be a prominent feature listed with the product specs. I have a pretty new mid-high end Nikon and it still doesn't have built in GPS. It's more than likely an issue with these phones that integrate everything into one device, though to be honest I haven't looked into cameras in a few months and things may have changed.


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

Scheherazade said:


> Most cameras need a separate GPS addon. I imagine this is mostly a concern with phones. If your phone had GPS it would probably be a prominent feature listed with the product specs. I have a pretty new mid-high end Nikon and it still doesn't have built in GPS. It's more than likely an issue with these phones that integrate everything into one device, though to be honest I haven't looked into cameras in a few months and things may have changed.


I think there are a few newer models of cameras that do have geotagging integrated, but only within the last year or so (and it's still pretty unusual). Usually, you need some sort of accessory that has access to GPS.

(Here are a few models that do have it: http://reviews.cnet.com/2795-6501_7-423.html)

If your camera has built-in GPS, I imagine there would be a menu selection dedicated to turning it on and off. You could also just search your camera model online to make sure. Or, you could do like swolf mentioned, and download a program that displays all the exif data, if you're still concerned. I personally love geotagging for some of the reasons Scheherazade mentioned, but it's just a case of being responsible with the electronics you own and turning off the GPS if you don't want people to know where you took a picture.


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## Jordan Parkes (Jul 16, 2011)

I think features like this really shouldn't be allowed without some kind of message offering you to keep it on or off before you use the camera.
It's not fair to the average non-techi joe who would never know this is happening. As far as alarmist warnings they are not without warrant.
For example New York was recently considering adopting a Britain style surveillance system. In other words a camera for every 14 people, cameras monitoring all aspects of city life and looking for "unusual activities" such as car circling too much. 

If you are still in doubt Google: Michigan cops cell phone
To read a scary story about cops being able to read your cell phone with a device and no warrant necessary.

These are the kinds of things I really don't want our country to become.


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## Brem (Jun 29, 2011)

Yikes this kind of freaks me out. I don't want people to know exactly where my pictures were taken. I doubt my camera is good enough to mark where I am at, but who knows I could be wrong. But yeah, I don't see why technology has to be like this.


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

This sounds very similar to this scare (debunked by Snopes): http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/gpstrack.asp

FWIW, my husband loves his digital camera with gps IDs, as he hikes & photographs in the back country of the Sierra Nevada & he can pinpoint where he was on a map, since he's often off trail (on purpose!).


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## Brem (Jun 29, 2011)

valleycat1 said:


> This sounds very similar to this scare (debunked by Snopes): http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/gpstrack.asp
> 
> FWIW, my husband loves his digital camera with gps IDs, as he hikes & photographs in the back country of the Sierra Nevada & he can pinpoint where he was on a map, since he's often off trail (on purpose!).


Yeah that's when I wouldn't mind being tracked. Same when I'm out of my house. But when I'm close by I'd be a little freaked. There must be an option to turn this off though, so I'm worrying far too much. haha!


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

valleycat1 said:


> This sounds very similar to this scare (debunked by Snopes): http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/gpstrack.asp


I can assure you this isn't a scare that will be debunked. I've been to the website, and it exists. Here's a blog that discusses it, and contains a link at the bottom of the blog post to several examples of what the website can do: (Warning, this link is safe, but don't click on the link in the blog if nudity offends you.)

http://dissention.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/self-shots-gps-enabled-smartphones-and-data-mining/



T.L. Haddix said:


> It may be a great feature for photographers, but it is also something that is being used by pedophiles. Alarmist or not, the people they featured on our _local_ news report a few weeks ago as having been targeted by someone for this nefarious purpose - the family with very young children who posted their pics from the park on Facebook - were in tears when the news crew let them know about it.


When you upload a photo to Facebook, the exif data is stripped out, so this risk doesn't exist there.

As for which cameras have it, the iphone definitely does, but you'd have to google to find if your camera/phone does.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Scheherazade said:


> Is it as useful for people that just take pictures of whatever? No. But for people who takes hundreds of shots of a single spot just to get that perfect image, then yes it is essential for some of them to have a record of where those shots were taken. Especially when many of those spots tend to be out in the middle of nowhere with no landmarks to go by.


We have a ton of pictures from hiking trips. All of them have trees and mountains in the background. When making photo albums, it would actually be great to identify which pic was taken in which little town... I think the feature is cool, but I'd agree that people should be made aware of it and have the option of turning it off.


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

Jessica Billings said:


> it's just a case of being responsible with the electronics you own and turning off the GPS if you don't want people to know where you took a picture.


^ ^ 
This. I agree with making everyone aware of it so they can be responsible and turn it off, I just don't like the sensationalism that is attached to the information that makes it sound like this feature was put here to do harm. News sources are so concerned about ratings that they turn the smallest things into the next big threat to your family. People need to read up on what these devices and apps are doing when they use them instead of just using them blindly then blaming the technology for something that happened because of their lack of due diligence. It's horrible that this stalking and such is happening, but it's also horrible that news channels and websites are milking it for viewers.


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## Brem (Jun 29, 2011)

Yeah I guess it really isn't a huge problem. Now that I know facebook takes that info out of the image really makes things easier. I wonder if other sites do that.


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