Online Privacy is a BIG issue that we all need to stop and think about! I used to tweet out pictures from my BlackBerry all the time and after I saw the upcoming video, I have been doing it a lot less. I consider myself a social media butterfly and I engage with my online community however, I think everyone needs to consider the dangers of being too open online. Almost every smart phone has built in GPS and can tell a potential stalker or thieve your location or very close proximity to your location.
If you Tweet out a picture, all the person has to do is right click on the picture and go to view image excess data and it gives you all sorts of information including latitude and longitude which someone can easily plug into Google Earth (Maps) even look at street view and see exactly where you are, That’s scary to me! You do harmless tweeting of pictures and it’s a potential hazard. How many times this winter have we tweeted out photos of how the snow looked in our cities, neighborhoods and even our yards?
When you take a picture with your smart phone there is an embedded code with your location within a 15 feet radius! That’s a little too close for comfort if you ask me! I was a little disturbed about the site “I Can Stalk You” until I found out it’s raising awareness about inadvertent information sharing. The good news is you can disable geotagging on your smart phone. Also, if you are like me and you use geo location applications (Foursquare, Whrrl, Gowala) on your smart phone you can check in to a venue when you’re leaving vs. when you actually arrive. I’m notorious for doing that!You can also not tweet out your check in and be private about it. Let’s all make a conscious effort to be more careful online and not put ourselves in any unnecessary situations. Please watch the video and share your thoughts.