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Cinthia Silva Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 DATE September 25 201! Geo-Tagging Invading Privacy "eo#tagging ma$be a ne% term that not ever$bo&$ is a%are $et accor&ing to S'$hoo' the %orl&%i&e lea&er in location positioning conte(t an& Intelligence "eo#tagging a))ects up to *+0 percent o) the ,-S- Cana&ian an& Australian populations.- "eo#tagging is the mar'ing o) an$ 'in& o) social in)ormation li'e a picture post vi&eo etc %ith location- /ne ma$ as' %h$ the$ haven0t hear& o) this term i) happens all the time1 2ell even though geo#tagging happens %ith all smartphones an& the user ma$ unconsciousl$ share their location in)ormation- The user &oesn0t necessaril$ have to %rite %here the$ are )or others to easil$ i&enti)$ their location- 3or e(ample a person can t%eet %hile on Campus but the$ &on0t have to %rite &o%n I0m at ,4CC )or others to 'no% the$0re here "eo#tagging ma'es it incre&ibl$ eas$ to 'no% %here the user %as at the moment it is poste&- "eo#tagging is becoming more an& more o) issue %ith the rise o) smart phone technolog$ most people %hen setting up their phones agree to all terms an& con&itions %ithout rea&ing the policies- 2hen a smart phone user is setting up their phone there comes a screen stating 5ocation services allo% access or &en$ %ithout thin'ing about man$ user 6ust clic' $es an& continue their ever$&a$- 2ith this agreement the user has %illing allo%e& their phone to 7,se "8S along %ith cro%&#source& 2i#3i hotspot an& cell to%er locations to &etermine $our appro(imate location. accor&ing to Apple- This gives in)ormation is highl$ private $et people )eel o'a$ %ith this in)ormation being out there )or the %orl&- In man$ Social

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Me&ias li'e 3aceboo' an& T%itter "eo#location is broa&caste& to $our )rien&s9)ollo%ers %hen $ou message %ith map is sho%ing e(actl$ $our position- This little map can sho% $ou %here the user %as %hen the$ message& $ou $ou can get &irection to that location an& get a vie% o) ho% their buil&ing loo'sT%itter 3aceboo' Instagram an& an$ social )orm o) communication have access to geo# tagging a simple post or picture can &epict so much in)ormation that users rarel$ thin' aboutThis eas$ accessible in)ormation has given a ne% meaning to privac$ an& also ma&e it easier )or thieves to get in)ormation about the user- There0s a %ebsite name& 8lease:obMe-com %hich allo%s to users to see ho% eas$ it )or thieves to 'no% %hether $ou0re home an& $our %hereabouts- This %ebsites allo%s user to submit their T%itter usernames to get access to a timeline o) chec'ins this %ebsites ma'es users a%are o) ho% much in)ormation their sharing through social me&ia an& ho% eas$ it is )or other people to have location in)ormation )or an$one,ser can also pass $our location )rom one app to another accor&ing to 3ran' "roenevel&, ;arr$ ;orsboom an& ;o$ van Amstel the creators of PleaseRobMe.com $ou might rela$ $our 3ours<uare location to $our public T%itter account an& b$ &oing this e(pose the message to the %hole %orl&.- The rela$ o) in)ormation given out can be relativel$ har& to 'eep up ho% much in)ormation is out an& %ho has access to this sensitive in)ormation- The use o) location mapping %as seen the 7;ling :ing. scan&al in %hich + teens %ere caught brea'ing into celebrities homes the$ use& location mappings an& gossip )orum to 'no% %hen the resi&ents %here out an& %here the$ live&- This location maps can be create& b$ an$one an& 8lease:obMe-com is a great e(ample o) ho% pubic $our location in)ormation is"eo#tagging has also given a %hole ne% meaning to mar'eting online- It is no secret that social me&ias gain millions because o) a&vertisement $et the most a&s online are speci)ic to the

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area in %hich the user is- =o% is this possible1 :easoning is that "oogle9Apple etc- give a&vertisers some in)ormation o) user0s locations an& search histor$- 3or e(ample "oogle creates pro)iles )or users "oogle trac's user0s locations >ouTube vi&eos email etc- an& %ith gives companies this in)ormation so the$ can mar'et speci)icall$ to the user- These a&s become more targete& to the speci)ic location such as a&s )or the local pi??a place restaurants services etc3or e(ample $ou ma$ chec'#in to man$ stores so $our a&vertisements are going to be o) stores that are near $ou- This ma$ not seem li'e a big &eal but the li'el$ hoo& o) going to one o) them stores is signi)icantl$ higher than going to store on the o) to%n other si&e- So there0s a correlation bet%een $our location an& the in)ormation that %ill be presente& to $ou because o) $our locationThere are even Apps that are all about geo#location an& %ill &ecipher the co&e o) pictures an& give the e(act location o) %here the photo %as ta'en- /n the Weekend Edition Sunday host :achel Martin ha& a segment about @eeping Trac' /) >our Digital 3ootprints %here she &iscusse& about an app %here one 76ust &rops it ApictureB into an appC- an& $ou can see all the in)ormation attache& to it inclu&ing latitu&e an& longitu&e- I) I 6ust clic' this button it sho%s $ou automaticall$ e(actl$ %here that picture %as ta'en- An& i) %e ?oom in it %ill actuall$ sho% $ou the buil&ing an& %here in the buil&ing it %as ta'en-. This 6ust comes to sho% that there0s no nee& )or bac'groun& in)ormation to &eco&e this &ata because there man$ apps that can &ecipher the co&es an& ho% eas$ it is to obtain in)ormation o) location through pictures@eeping trac' on %hat location in)ormation %e give out can be har& in this &a$ in age %ith smartphones are continuousl$ getting more an& more a&vance& $et b$ &isenabling 5ocation on phones can signi)icantl$ lo%er $our location being lea'e& to an$ app- ,sers shoul& also be a%are o) the social me&ias polic$ )or e(ample T%itter0s state&: */ur &e)ault is almost al%a$s to

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ma'e the in)ormation $ou provi&e public* so ma'e sure $our pro)iles are set in private that %a$ even i) $our location services is enable& $our location %ill onl$ be share& %ith %hom $ou choose- There are also apps li'e 2ic'r %hich enables users to share messages photos vi&eos etc an& sel)#&estructs at time limit that the user sets this %a$ the permanent &igital recor&s li'e location an& the actual post itsel) is &elete&- ,sers shoul& tr$ an& not to rela$ an$ 'in& o) post )rom one app to another because that also ma'es it har&er to 'no% %ho has access to $our location in)ormation an& its har&er to control %ho $ou give access- 2ith these simple tas's one coul& save themselves )rom thieves an& being bombar&e& %ith local a&s an& 'eeping their location private-