Gadgets Blog » internet safety

The onset of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have allowed users to put unparalleled amounts of personal information on the Internet. While these sites enable people to stay connected to their friends and families, they also present some serious concerns about online privacy. In the wake of the Facebook privacy ordeal, concerns about security while on the world wide web have reached a pinnacle, meaning today’s topic is especially relevant. Even if you’re careful about what sort of information you provide to the Internet-at-large, you can still be opening yourself up to some major privacy concerns.

In an article on the finance portion of Yahoo News, trends in digital hacking are pointing towards an exploit of a little-known function for many smartphone cameras and digital cameras alike. Known as a GeoTag, many devices, including Apple’s iPhone, contain a small piece of data giving coordinates of the device’s location at the time a picture is taken. The GeoTag originates primarily in GPS enabled devices, and is a little-known functional element that hackers have begun to exploit. You don’t even have to be an expert to use a GeoTag. Browser plug-ins such as Exif Viewer and Opanda iExif enable anyone to see a map of where a picture was taken.