Cinthia Silva Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 Date: December 3, 2013

Geo-Tagging/Location Invading Privacy

One night my friend and I were messaging on Facebook., Uunderneath her message it said Greensboro, NC, so I asked her what she was doing over by Greensboro. She seemed startled and asked how I knew she was in Greensboro since she hadnt mentioned it in our conversation, and I told her that her location appeared under her message on Facebook. Fernanda, my friend was quite shocked and felt uneasy about her whereabouts being shown through messages. She had no idea that Facebook knew her location and was broadcasting to her friends on Facebook until I mentioned it. She is one of millions of people who are unaware how their location can be known to other users.I thought that people generally knew about this concept of location based services, it appears all the time when downloading new applications or sometimes some website ask for permission to know ones location. The idea of sharing ones location to anyone who has access to your profile, pictures, or any of kind of post is scary, but very few people, like my friend, Fernanda know how their location can be known to other users or are even aware that theyre sharing this sort of information . Geo-Tagging and Geo-location has become widely talked about due to the issues it had brought up since the rise of smart phones. Smartphone users should be aware of the dangers on these location based applications, people need to be aware of the personal information that they are openly allowing websites/apps/etc. of their location.

Geo-tagging is the marking of longitude and latitude in a picture, post video, etc, with location. Geo-location is also closely linked with geo-tagging, which means the location of a person or device by the means of digital information shared though the internet. Geo-tagging and Geo-location xobtain location information through internet enabled device by using the devices location services if this service is enabled. If it is not enabled there is no location information attached to any post/tweet/picture through the device. Geo-tagging/location may be a new term that not everybody is aware of yet, according to Skyhook, the worldwide leader in location positioning, Ccontext and Intelligence Geo-tagging affects up to "70 percent of the U.S., Canadian and Australian populations (Skyhook). Thats well over the majority of the population, yet very few worry about their location being known to billions of social network users whom have access to this detailed information. This may be because they arent aware of how much information they are distributing or how some people may use it for stalking, robbing, or any other negative manner. One may ask why he or she hasnt heard of this term if it happens all the time. Or why does it matter? Or what issues can arise from geo-tagging/location?. Well, even though geoGeo-tagging/location happens with all smartphones and the user may unconsciously share their location information. The user doesnt necessarily have to write out where they are for others to easily identify their location. For example a person can tweet while on campus but they dont have to write down Im at UNCC for others to know theyre here, Geo-tagging makes it incredibly easy to know where the user was at the moment it is posted. If you click on a persons tweet and that persons location services is enabled than their location would appear. If I were to tweet, you can read at the bottom Charlotte, North Carolina, to get more precise information on my location then youd need some computer knowledge to decode but its a fairly easy task that can accomplished. Geo-tagging is becoming more and

more of an issue with the rise of smart phone technology, most people when setting up their phones agree to all terms and conditions without reading the policies. When a smart phone user is setting up his or her phone, there comes a screen stating Location services allow access or deny without thinking about many users just click yes and continue their liveseveryday(Apple). With this agreement, the user has willingly allowed their phone to Use GPS along with crowdsourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower locations to determine your approximate location according to Apple(Apple). This given information is highly private yet people feel okay with this information being out there for the world. On a The Weekend Edition Sunday of NPR News, the host focused on our digital footprints. They started off by making the listener ponder by stating "Millions of us are willing are share intimate details about ourselves online but we may be inadvertently sharing more than we mean to"(Steve). This makes people realize that this affects the majority of people this day in age because of smartphones and the internet. In many Social Medias like Facebook and Twitter, Geo-location is broadcasted to your friends/followers when you message with map is showing exactly your position. This little map can show you where the user was when they messaged you, and you can get directions to that location and get a view of how their building looks. Or some users may just openly tweet where you are, such as what mall or what restaurant you are eating at. Facebook has made it incredibly easy for users to broadcast their whereabouts by Checking-In,, with this application the user can Check-in the location they are at. Most of the time the location is not visible right off the bat and some level of computer science may be needed to be able to read/decode the coded information that is attached to any picture or post. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and any social form of communication has access to geotagging, a simple post or picture can depict so much information that users rarely think about.
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This easy accessible information has given a new meaning to privacy and also made it easier for thieves to get information about the user. There are billions of users of these three main social networks at the moment, yet the users dont seem to pay attention to the consequences that may arrive because of their location being known. Theres a website named PleaseRobMe.com which allows the users to see how easy it for thieves to know whether youre home and your whereabouts. This websites allows users to submit their Twitter usernames to get access to a timeline of check-ins; this websites makes users aware of how much information they are sharing through social media and how easy it is for other people to have location information for anyone. Users can also pass your location from one application to another. According to Frank Groeneveld, Barry Borsboom and Boy van Amstel, creators of PleaseRobMe.com, you might relay your Foursquare location to your public Twitter account and by doing this expose the message to the whole world.(Groeneveld). The relay of information given out can be relatively hard to keep up how much information is out and who has access to this sensitive information. The use of location mapping was seen in the Bling Ring scandal in which 7 teens were caught breaking into celebrities homes, they used location mappings and gossip forums to know when the residents were out and where they lived(Groeneveld). These location maps can be created by anyone, and PleaseRobMe.com is a great example of how public your location information is. Geo-tagging has also given a whole new meaning to marketing online. It is no secret that social medias gain millions of dollars due becaustoe of advertisement, yet the most ads online are specific to the area in which the user is. How is this possible? The reasoning is that Google/Apple etc. give advertisers some information of users locations and search history. For example Google creates profiles for users, Google tracks users locations, YouTube videos, email etc. and then gives companies this information so they can market specifically to the user.

These ads become more targeted to the specific location, such as ads for the local pizza place, restaurants, services, etc. For example you may check-in to stores, so your advertisements are going to be of the stores that are near you. Even Twitter clearly states that "We may use and store information about your location to provide features of our Services, such as Tweeting with your location, and to improve and customize the Services, for example, with more relevant content like local trends, stories, ads, and suggestions for people to follow."(Twitter). Twitter like many other social Medias are profiting by taking advantage of our location, to target ads/news that are specific to our area. This may not seem like a big deal, but the likelihood of going to one of those stores is significantly higher than going to a store on the other side of town. So theres a correlation between your location and the information that will be presented to you because of your location. Keeping track on what location information we give out can be hard in this day in age with smartphones continuously getting more and more advanced, yet by disenabling Location on phones can significantly lower your location being leaked to any app. Users should also be aware of the social medias policy. For example Twitter stated: "Our default is almost always to make the information you provide public", so make sure your profiles are set in private that way even if your location services is enabled your location will only be shared with whom you choose (Twitter). On the Weekend Edition Sunday of NPR News, they had a segment on an app that can tell your exact location. They stated just drops it (picture) into an app. and you can see all the information attached to it, including latitude and longitude. If I just click this button, it shows you automatically exactly where that picture was taken. And if we zoom in, it will actually show you the building and where in the building it was taken(Steve).. This just comes to show that theres no need for background information to decode this data because there are many apps that
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can decipher the codes and how easy it is to obtain information of location through pictures. That app is similar to Wickr which enables users to share messages, photos, videos etc. and selfdestructs at a time limit that the user sets, this way the permanent digital records like location and the actual post itself is deleted. Users should try and not to relay any kind of post from one app to another because that also makes it harder to know who has access to your location information and its harder to control who you give access. With these simple tasks one could save themselves from thieves and being bombarded with local ads and keeping their location private. Social Medias are also trying to help with these issues of geo-tagging. In the New York Times, writer Kate Murphy mentioned that "photographs are formatted by some sites like Facebook and Match.com, geo-tag information is not always retained" and that Other sites like Flickr have recently taken steps to block access to geo-tag data on images...unless a user explicitly allows it."(Murphy). Social Media can only aid with this growing issue to a certain extent. It is up to smartphone users to be aware of this issue, and for them to take matter into their own hands. Before users agree to allow other sites/apps to use their location, users must me informed to what exactly they are consenting. In the rush of the moment, one can easily just click accept but the user may have no idea to what they have agreed to. Geo-tagging/location is not all bad, this incredibly technology used to know the exact location of a device/person through the internet can also be used in more positive things. In many cases of theft, abduction, or any other case in which the police needs to track a victim or suspect geo-location is a useful thing to have. Police can trace calls or use any other post/picture to know a persons where-abouts. Or if a person travels a lot, then all of the pictures taken can be uploaded into popular picture apps such as Flickr or Picassa and the site will automatically organize pictures by location making. This can be useful; over the course of years, all the
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pictures of ones journeys can be easily accessible with insight of the location in which they were taken in. This sites can also show pictures that were taken in the exact area or surrounding area, making it easy for people to get a view of certain locations without ever actually visiting there. If it werent for geo-tagging or geo-location features than business such as Skyhook would be out of business. Skyhook's patented technology is positioned to location-enable hundreds of millions of applications and mobile devices, including smartphones, netbooks, laptops, cameras and gaming devices.(Skyhook). This company excels in location software aiding companies in which location they should make another location. With the technology in todays day in age, we as the users need to be more aware of what we are enabling our devices to do today this day in age such as the Location services on cellular devices. The users should also be aware of risks when location services has been enabled. The main concerns users should have with geo-tagging/location are millions of people knowing ones location, stalking, theft related issues, and crossing ones privacy. People of all age ages can use a bit more caution with oversharing with their fellow friends. It may not seem like a big deal but there are many people that misuse the information and that couldve ultimately been avoided. Users should be aware of different ways in which they can control who and what applications had access to geo-tagging/location. Disenabling Location services would be the best way to start, but to be more efficient in disturbing pictures without geo-tag would be using apps such as Wickr. If users would become more informed over geo-tagging/location then, many of the issues Ive stated would started would diminish drastically.

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Works Cited Borsboom, Barry. Amstel, Boy van,. Groeneveld, Frank. Please Rob Me. Barry Borsboom, Boy van Amstel, Frank Groeneveld, 2010. Web. 15 October 2013 Holdener, Anthony T. III. HTML Geolocation. eblib.com/. Ebook Library, 2013. Web. 15 October 2013
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Murphy, Kate. Web Photos That Reveal Secrets, Like Where You Live. NewYorkTimes.com 11 August 2011. Web. 15 October

Skyhook Wireless, Skyhook Wireless. Skyhook. 2013. Web. December 3 2013 Privacy Policy. Apple. Apple, 31 August. 2013. Web. 15 October 2013
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Steve Henn. Interviewed by Rachel Martin. Weekend Edition Sunday. NPR. 23 June 2013. Academic OneFile. Web. 15 October 2013.

Twitter.Twitter,. N.P. 2013. Web. 15 October 2013 Privacy Policy. Apple. Apple, 31 August. 2013. Web. 15 October 2013