07/30/2008, 10:15pm, EDT
Wednesday, July 30th
iPhone's GPS may be trouble for some users
The iPhone 3G's inclusion of real GPS navigation was initially viewed as a boon, but one blogger is concerned that users' photo-taking activities could compromise the wellbeing of those involved. Blogger Kelso of Kelso Cartography notes
While many of these services allow you to disable showing the information, Kelso is convinced that they still record the information on the website. A couple of solutions can help prevent prying eyes from viewing sensitive information, each with their own benefits.
For users who which to ensure that no data is ever recorded (if they fail to see the use of geotagged photos in their life, for example) then an option exists to deny access to the "current location" statistic presented by the GPS unit. This can be done by denying the function as the user opens a GPS-aware application, or by turning off the service completely inside the iPhone's General Settings.
If users wish to retain the GPS information for their own records, Kelso recommends the use of an EXIF data editor, such as PhotoInfoEditor, which allows users to either reduce the tag's precision or eliminating it altogether.
Kelso offers a recommendation to both Apple and developers, suggesting that sliders or toggles could be inserted, inhibiting the precision of the GPS tag or otherwise compromising select pieces of information from the tag.
Filed under: iPhone, software, iPhone apps
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what
if u want to keep the crazy people away please don't upload your photos online.
Holey
Don't ever leave the safety of your cave, there are predators outside!
but the crazy people...
are my friends!
My GPS rarely works
Sometimes it works at home, but not always - even standing in the same spot outside. One time that it did work, it recorded me moving north east, when I was sat at my desk. Most other places, like London where I work, it doesn't work 99% of the time.
Note:
If you report your location, people will know where you are!
In other news, if you tell people your name, they will know your name!
security threat!!!
We need Norton AntiVirus for iPhone now to protect us from these types of security threats! Because, after installing that, your phone will become unusable, and therefore will no longer pose such a security threat!
And how come no one cares about the geo-locating in any other cameras???
What???
So a guy blogging on a CARTOGRAPHER website wants apple to provide an option to make it less precise. (Hey, maybe that explains the goofiness of the Google Maps app, as many have complained it just maps people on non-existent roads or even off bridges).
What's next, maps should have in their legend "one inch is between 1 and 5 miles, and varies from inch to inch"?
Yet
I'm glad this was posted. I'm sure there was someone out there just about to get into the business of kidnapping and holding people for ransom. Thinking the iPhone would be the perfect device to take pictures of their "guests" holding up today's newspaper (to prove they're still alive), this would have led the cops directly to my...er...I mean their door.
Woo. That was close.
.
ihow in the hell does the GPS tech have anything to do with someone using the camera and then uploading their photos to a public website?
This is pretty damned stupid of Kelso - that all comes down to user choice and stupidity.
Phoneboys Phreaking...
So, after actually reading the article, I'm betting every one of you witty responders are guys, right? So stalking isn't too much a problem. Who the heck would stalk you guys, right? Yeah, what I thought.
Testudo, leave it to you to miss the point completely. He's referring to the iPhone because I'm assuming that's what he has? Kinda makes sense right? Wow, imagine that.
Besides, he's not saying the GPS has to be less accurate; just that it would nice to have the ability to remove the geodata IF YOU WANT.
And this has nothing to do with Google Maps sometimes poor geocoding of addresses. That database comes from TeleAtlas or Navtec, so blame them. I'll just wait til you have a teenage daughter who gets stalked and then we'll talk.
And uberF.Up, um, the camera uses the GPS to add the current lat/long data to the EXIF data for that picture. If you upload that photo without changing the defaults either on the camera or the site, you've given your location away, with time and location information intact. Moreover, you mention "user choice"? Wake up, that's EXACTLY what he's saying. Stupid is as stupid says. RTFA first, and you might get the picture.
And no I'm not Kelso, but I do make maps, so I appreciate the ability to tag my photos if I'm out field checking. But I don't want to start posting instant photos of a vacation to my personal website...it just screams, "Hey, I'm not home, come rob me." But then again, I read enough articles like Kelso's to be aware enough, to know my options. Thus, I don't post while on vacation, nor do I use Flicker. But then again, I'm like ya'll and know more than the average iPhad user.
I bet you guys are just running off to eat some imported jalapenos too, right? Becuase nothing will ever hurt you, 'cuz you're all so special.