"Hey, Burglars! Come Steal My Stuff!"

Geolocation features in cameras are giving thieves new information when someone proudly posts a picture of their new acquisition, whether it's a boat, a flat-screen TV, or a new car, according to an article last week in the New York Times.

Some cameras and smart phones embed location-specific information, such as latitude and longitude, into the metadata, or information, about a picture. Canny thieves can click on the picture, check the metadata, and determine the location of the prize, or just the house or garage full of power tools behind it. Combined with information such as posts about a user’s plans, like “Going on vacation next week with my new boat!,” it provides a to-do list for burglars.

While the geotagging feature can be disabled, it can be complicated, says the Times. “Disabling the geotag function generally involves going through several layers of menus until you find the “location” setting, then selecting “off” or “don’t allow,” the article said. “But doing this can sometimes turn off all GPS capabilities, including mapping, so it can get complicated.”

Browser plugins could enable burglars to use latitude and longitude to plot locations on a Google map. “By downloading free browser plug-ins like the Exif Viewer for Firefox or Opanda IExif for Internet Explorer, anyone can pinpoint the location where the photo was taken and create a Google map,” the Times said.

In fact, burglars with some technical savvy could even search for geotagged photographs accompanied with text like “on vacation” or those taken in a specified neighborhood, the Times said.

Sites such as ICanStalkU.com provide directions on how to shut off the geotagging feature on multiple phones.

[GoodLuckChuck]

Good story but on a deeper level many believe in My Name is Earl. It is about karma. Not only do the Buddhists and Hindus believe in karma but the TV show above is produced by Scientologists who also believe in it. So this includes Tom Cruise, Juliette Lewis, Will Smith, Jenna Elfman, Jason Lee (star of above show), John Traolta and Lisa Marie Presley. I am not a Christian but Jesus said that as you sow , so shall you reap and do unto to others as you would have them do unto you.

So people who steal will have to pay for it. In the old TV show Baretta with Robert Blake they would say "Don't Do the Crime if You Can't Do the Time, Don't Do It." See for yourself on this clip of the theme song by Sammy Davis Jr. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRa9uhiAPBs

[Ezzaral]

>Good story but on a deeper level...

Deeper level? Perhaps you meant "entirely irrelevant stream-of-consciousness tangent"? What does karma have to do with geotagging features in phones?

[jon.kiparsky]

There's a pretty good talk on this from the next HOPE. hattorrents.com has it, it's worth a look.

[GoodLuckChuck]

The title is not Geotagging Features in Phones. It is Hey Burglars! Come Steal My Stuff. Or are you saying that the title has nothing to do with the story?

[Ezzaral]

All you read was the title? Being vaguely related to the title does not equate relevance to the story itself. Your question is logically irrelevant as well.

[GoodLuckChuck]

I read the story. The title shows how this technology relates to the person on a personal level. It is a good title since the purpose of a title is to get people to read the article. If people in America never stole anything, then people would not care about what that technology is doing. My reply was so that people know that they do not need to be afraid or have fear.

Also I sense hostility in your reply. You can flag the post if you think that it is a violation. You said "Your question is logically irrelevant as well." I did not post a question. I posted this under "Comments on this News Story." It was my comment on the story and that includes the title. From the above story: “Combined with information such as posts about a user’s plans, like “Going on vacation next week with my new boat!,” it provides a to-do list for burglars."

But I guess you know that the hostility that you have is not from my post. It is from something else. I can understand that if somebody (hypothetical story) is upset because their child of 6 years old has died and then they read about karma, how it can add fuel to the fire. But that is an issue that they need to work out. So I disagree with your opinion but that is going to happen in life. People are going to disagree with you. I do not think what I said was irrelevant.

I guess that you know that many crimes are not figured out logically but are crimes of passion. The article is about a technology helping criminals to do crime.

[jon.kiparsky]

Or are you saying that the title has nothing to do with the story?

Is that the question you didn't post?

As for your responses, I have no idea what on earth they have to do with the story. If you read the story, you didn't understand it.

I guess that you know that many crimes are not figured out logically but are crimes of passion. The article is about a technology helping criminals to do crime

Um, this is about a technology which is enabling ordinary users to make their whereabouts and possessions public knowledge, as well as good data on when they will be away from home. It's an article about a poorly thought out deployment of a technology, which is being used by people who don't think about the technology they use, and which is open to being exploited by people who do think about it.

It sounds like reading isn't your strong suit. Try watching the lecture on geotagging that you'll find at the hattorrents site. It'll seem more real to you, since it's on TV.

[Ezzaral]

Ok, Chuck, thanks for that meandering trip down the rabbit hole.

[GoodLuckChuck]

As far as the question that I did not post. When is a question not a question? When it is a rhetorical question! It was a rhetorical question. Rhetorical: a statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered; "he liked to make his points with rhetorical questions"

[jon.kiparsky]

And the article that you did not read?

[GoodLuckChuck]

The ultimate purpose of comments is more keywords for the search engine to find. It sounds like someone may not have liked me posting my original comment. So I am being accused of not reading the article or not understanding what I read. Very hostile! Hostile: •characterized by enmity or ill will; "a hostile nation"; "a hostile remark"; "hostile actions." Enmity: a feeling of hostility or ill will, as between enemies; antagonism.

I am not a Christian (Jesus was a Jew) but Jesus says that you look for splinters in other's eyes when you have logs in your own eyes.

[jon.kiparsky]

It is usually expected that a response to a piece of writing show some connection to the content of the piece of writing. If you read and understood the article, your response would have shown some connection to the article. It did not, ergo you either did not read or did not understand the article.
Now, perhaps where you come from it is not expected that a reply bear any connection to it antecedent. If this is your custom, then it's reasonable to assume that you didn't read or understand the article, because it would not be to do so in order to comment. Your comment can take any word or phrase from the title and spin off a sort of free-associative spurt of words, and it's a response. Very well, but there's still no reason for me to believe that you read the article or understood what you read.

The ultimate purpose of comments is more keywords for the search engine to find.

If you believe that the purpose of a discussion is simply to feed a search engine, your participation is contrary to the purpose of both discussion and search engines.

[GoodLuckChuck]

Besides hostility, there is covert hostility.

[slfisher]

I love the idea of depending on karma and the universe to get back at people, and in the meantime it's good to know what things I can do to prevent it. :)