The dangers of posting photos online. Phones or devices with GPS technology contain tags that reveal exactly where the picture was taken if your location services is enabled. The convenience of sharing photos with friends (and non-friends) through social networking sites and blogs is undeniable. Unfortunately, so are the dangers. Not only can photos be stolen and used by strangers, but many photos, especially those taken by phones or devices with GPS technology, contain tags that reveal exactly where the photos were snapped. In other words, if a parent takes a photo of his or her child playing at home and then posts it online, its possible for strangers to know exactly where they live. Also if you send a message to someone via facebook messaging and your location service is switched on, they recipient will know exactly where you are messaging from as the area where you are messaging from will reveal your exact location and even provide a map!! A few simple steps can dramatically reduce your chances of falling victim, and theres no need to give up photo-sharing altogether. Here are six steps everyone should take to protect themselves and their families when posting online. 1. Check your privacy settings. Facebook and many other social networking sites give users options when it comes to who can view their photos and personal information. On Facebook, users can specify that they want only their friends to view their photos, or friends of friends, or everyone. (To check your settings, log in to your account and go to privacy settings.) 2. Know who your friends are. If you have hundreds of friends on Facebook, chances are you dont know them all that well. Take a moment to review your friends list to make sure everyone still sounds familiar. Perhaps you accepted a friend request from an old school classmate, but he or she appears to have grown up into an odd person. You might want to consider de-friending him or her. 3. Disable GPS technology before taking photos with a smartphone if you plan to post the photos online. Even some regular cameras have this technology, so check what information is included with your photos before posting them online. You should be able to turn off the high-tech feature before snapping, and you might want to consider doing so when you are in your home. 4. Watch out for lower-tech ways of sharing personal information, too. A photo taken in front of your home could reveal your address, or a T-shirt could contain a school logo. If youre posting photos on a blog or other public website, you probably want to keep your personal details under cover. 5. Stand up for yourself (and your child). If a friend or relative posts photos of your child on Facebook and you dont want them to, ask to take them down. After all, you dont know how carefully they monitor their own friend list, so its impossible to know who is viewing the photos. The same goes for YouTube, Picasa and other media-sharing The bottom line: Its hard to control how your photos are used once they are posted online, but these steps can reduce your chances of becoming a victim of identify thieves or other criminals or unwanted stalkers!
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 20:03:40 +0000
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