Geotagged Facebook posts put soldiers' lives at risk

[Meg]

This should serve as a warning to anyone who values their privacy too...

BBC News - Geotagged Facebook posts put soldiers' lives at risk

Soldiers' lives are being put at risk by geotagged photos - marked with a location - on social media sites like Facebook, the US Army has warned.

It says Facebook's new Timeline feature, which creates a map of places geotagged by users, also poses a risk to soldiers and their families

Many smartphones automatically geotag photos with GPS co-ordinates.

In 2007 four US Army helicopters were destroyed in Iraq after geotagged photos were posted on the internet.

By posting photos on Facebook or checking-in on social media sites like Foursquare or Gowalla, soldiers may reveal the exact location of their unit or their family, the US Army said in a statement. The release follows an army warning last year that geotag data in photos could tip off criminals.

"Do you really want everyone to know the exact location of your home or your children's school?" Staff Sgt Dale Sweetnam of the Online and Social Media Division said.

[Robert]

[SteveJM]

Meg-"This should serve as a warning to anyone who values their privacy too..."

I agree!

[mattfivefour]

People are far too casual about their involvement on the internet. You need to protect yourself at all times ... and that means exploring every sit3e's privacy settings and screwing them down tight. It also means not taking part in many online activities such as FB games (eg: Farmville, or Words with Friends), activities (eg: Between You and Me, or My Calendar) and groups. Every app and game on FB mines your personal information and shares it with the third-party software developers who create the games. Now think about it. If somebody goes to all the trouble of creating a game or an app, and then gives it away free, how do they make their money? Selling what you so freely give them-- your personal information. There are many people and groups in the world—some reputable, many disreputable—who are willing to pay big money for that information.

Further (apart from merchandisers and identity thieves) pedophiles, rapists and stalkers mine information, photos and videos from social media sites and use them for their own purposes. If this scares you, it should. Personal information and pictures should be reserved for family and real online friends whom you know ... not placed openly on the web for the world, or even social media "friends", to see. Most are not friends at all.

Protect yourself ... protect your children.