Sharing Pictures and Geotagging

[wayout]

Not sure this topic has been raised before (searching geotag didn't give any hits here) but if it has, my apologies. Is anyone aware of or perhaps used the ability to find a location of where a smart phone picture was taken (geotagging)?

 

I've been corresponding with a potential hire and he sent me some cell phone pics (which he indicated are recent). He asked me for a pic of myself so he could recognize me when we meet, supposedly in a public place. As a rule, I have never provided a pic of myself to an escort but thought what the harm could be and was going to do so when I vaguely remembered something about being able to track locations from some pictures (geotagging). So before sending my pic I took, I checked and lo and behold, the pic I took had my house address. I was floored and had no idea how precise it would be.

 

I suppose I could also check the location of the pics taken and sent by the escort. It could be a useful way to help verify details about the pic from a smart phone sent to you, like when and where it was taken. I understand many sites strip off geotracking info of pics they post so it might only be useful for those you receive directly from the escort (assuming he hasn't deactivated it himself).

 

I did investigate how to turn off geotagging on my iPhone and it is pretty easy (although I have not verified it is actually working yet). Still, just reinforces my general rule not to share pics of myself with an escort.

 

So wondering if others have used it or are even aware of it and how accurate it can pinpoint your location?

[thickornotatall]

http://gcn.com/articles/2012/12/10/how-to-disable-smart-phone-geotagging-feature.aspx

[+ WmClarke]

Every time I get a new phone, geotagging is turned on by default.

 

I don't always remember to turn it off right away. So I'm always a little paranoid about sending a pic (or even using it as an avatar).