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WARNING: Smartphone users beware


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" Most cameras and video recorders don't instantly attach location data (or geographic coordinates) to photos and videos. But some smartphones, such as the iPhone, automatically embed the user's latitude and longitude in each photo's metadata. It's possible to disable the function, but the researchers said many people don't even realize that they might need to.  ... computer security experts in Massachusetts, said they were able to uncover location information in photos uploaded by William Shatner, M.C. Hammer, Weird Al Yankovic, Arnold Schwarzenegger and others.  ...most people don't even understand that they are posting this information online... do average people really want to let potential thieves know that they're on vacation, leaving their homes vacant, or where they grab coffee or take an evening run? "

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Apple, Facebook, Google and many others.... their motives aren't necessarily bad, but their assumptions are extraordinarily faulty and often grossly irresponsible.  You can call for less government all you want, but more government is the only thing that can force companies to treat any software functionality that touches private information as an opt-IN feature and not an opt-OUT feature.  The default should always be OFF.  Doing this would mean most people would be opted out, which reduces the potential for companies to monetize their feature set... which is why they'll never do it until forced to.

Laurence

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Quoted/snipped/modified: "You can call for less government all you want, but government is the only thing that can force companies to treat" us as individuals with the right to protection... we have the FDA mainly because companies (read: corporations) were selling weight-loss products that were tapeworms in a bottle!

John Moore

(Okay- maybe this belongs in the "Society, Politics, and the Planet" forum, but I couldn't not reply!)

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This is limited to Apple phones as far as I know.

With HTC and other android and windows phones you can disable location services from interacting with your Apps or running at all.

If you start TOMTOM or Google Maps however You can use the GPS without leaking any location information.

The problem with Apple is that they share your location with developers and other 3d parties.

There will be a congressional inquiry in apples affairs when congress comes back from recess.

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A lot of personal freedoms are slowly being eroded due to a lot of new technologies, especially in current fads like Facebook. Noted computer pundit Leo Laporte just yanked his Facebook account off because of privacy concerns, as have several other major computer columnists.

This thing with GPS data embedded in digital photos is the tip of the iceberg. You gotta be careful out there. These are dangerous times...

--Marc W.

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I think the best personal defense against this stuff is to simply not play in that pool.

I don't really have time for Facebook, Tweeter, or any of that stuff, but possibilities of privacy invasion make it even easier to

"just say no"... 

With regards to GPS metadata in photos... the only pictures I take with my camera are generally for me - references in shopping or real estate or a set up or equipment thing...

I use a good old fashioned camera for all others, and have it with me most of the time. 

Those are the photos I share with friends and family - and they are generally better, more stable images anyway.

Just a thought...

Michael Filosa, CAS

Atlanta

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Facebook is a simple communication environment.

  No corporate or other secrets , Credit cards should ever be in there.

 

A lot of personal freedoms are slowly being eroded due to a lot of new technologies, especially in current fads like Facebook. Noted computer pundit Leo Laporte just yanked his Facebook account off because of privacy concerns, as have several other major computer columnists.

This thing with GPS data embedded in digital photos is the tip of the iceberg. You gotta be careful out there. These are dangerous times...

--Marc W.

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The problem is, the more info you post about yourself online, the more the bad guys can hunt you down. If they start poking around and discover passwords, social security numbers, bank account numbers, home addresses and all that, you're sunk. Your whole life can unravel very quickly.

I agree with Mike above that to me, Facebook and Twitter are just time-sucking diversions. It's not for me. I do recommend industry-oriented sites like Linked-In, but I'm careful about how much info I post up there.

Update: I just read the new issue of Rolling Stone, and it has an alarming story titled "The Most Dangerous Man in Cyberspace," about the exploits of renowned hacker Jacob Appelbaum of Wikileaks. Read that and tell me it doesn't scare the living sh!t out of you.

Rolling Stone magazine

--Marc W.

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