Holiday Warning! Read this article before you rush out to get the newest phone for your child! Nearly all of my students who have cell phones, have "smart phones".
According to Wikipedia a smart phone is: "a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform... Today's models also serve to combine the functions of portable media players, low-end compact digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units."
Often, there are two types of GPS in a smartphone, one that 'tags' the area in which the phone is located and one that 'tags' thepictures that are taken with the phone. One inherent problem of having a smart phone, is that by default it will usually "geo-tag" any pictures uploaded to the Internet. Meaning, any pictures posted to Facebook and other photo sharing sites, will have the location where picture was taken readily available to any viewer.
Loosely defined "geo-tag" means that any photo is "tagged" with longitude and latitude from where it was taken. If your child has a Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, Twitter, or Photobucket this can be a serious issue. For example, if I decide to tweet a picture of my child, my camera's geo-tagging function can lead a stalker with in fifteen feet of my house.
Anyone can download Opanda Software (which is a free download) and use it to open any viewable picture on the Web. If the smartphone camera has tagged the picture with GPS data, Opanda is sure to find it. Also, by default, Facebook geo-tags all content as well. When a photo is geo-tagged, a Predator does not need to wait, or even do extensive research to retrieve the location of a victim's school or home. The process of 'grooming' a victim to convince them to reveal their location is virtually obsolete
I have included a picture is of my Son at the Orange County Fair and information about the camera, the owner, and GPS are all available through Opanda.
My suggestion: Turn off the GPS to the camera of your and your child's cell phone. It is very easy.
For the iPhone:
1. Go to Settings, then Location Services. Turn off the slider for the camera
For an Android device:
1. Select the Camera App, Store Location, and turn it to off.
For a Blackberry:
1. Go to Camera, select Options, then set Geo-Tagging to disabled.
For further information on geo-tagging please read this wikipedia article:
If you have any questions, please contact me through my blog www.transparentlyteaching.com.
Happy Holidays! -Jennifer Cronk
Instructional Technology Specialist
Google Certified Teacher
Cyber Safety Coach
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