# Scary new technology...



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

I just saw on the news, 'Adam' from the show 'Mythbusters' posted a pic of his customized Jeep in front of his house, on the Discovery Channel e-magazine. Somebody who knows digital imaging was able to determine that whatever camera was used to take the picture was GPS activated, and this person was able to retrieve the GPS coordinates that were embedded in the digital image, and he then proceeded to publish Adam's home address in a Facebook page! Now Adam is inundated with personal emails, phone calls and people visiting in person, now that his personal info is public. Cripes, this is scary… do you know if your coordinates are accessible thru your digital photos that you share with us? I hadn't heard of this before, but I'm sure that photos taken with cell phone cameras undoubtedly are GPS-enabled. Probably not your typical digital camera, but how do you know? Sheesh, aren't we intruded upon enough already?


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## Raftermonkey (Jun 5, 2010)

Holy crap!!!! That is crazy!!!! I really don't know what to say. That is crazy.


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## closetguy (Sep 29, 2007)

A lot of the higher priced cameras have GPS tagging built. The purpose is to go on vacation snapping pictures, then when you get home, the GPS information embedded in each picture will identify where the picture was taken. It's a pretty neat feature, however as in the above example, it's best to keep it turned off unless you need it. As I understand it, the feature also puts a heavy drain on the camera battery.


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## willy3486 (Feb 5, 2009)

I work on computers for a living and I have heard of a lot of this "hidden" technology. New printers encode the serial number and other stuff on every page printed. Thats so if you are a terrorist or do something wrong they can trace it back to you. I also read that newer printers have money detectors that will lock up the printer if you scan currency to print. Then when you have it fixed or send it in it alerts the repair facility to contact the authorities to investigate it. You think that google earth and others are great looking down from the sky to get directions. Just imagine how much better the proper authorities can see. There are some cases where it can be a good thing, as long as it is not abused.


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## Abbott (May 10, 2009)

Good post, thanks Kat.


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## wseand (Jan 27, 2010)

Well this doesn't surprise me but certainly disturbs me. Great post.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks for the great replies!
Even though the *Lumberjocks* site is populated with generally pleasant people, I myself was at one point harassed to the point of threats of physical force by a person who then posted a pic of what he thought was my house, gleaned from Google streets and my "workshop" information in my profile. I had instinctively put my pointer a few blocks over from my REAL location….and glad I did. That said, although this site is the most benign place I visit, the possibility of malice and mischief exists. Make sure your photos submitted here have no GPS encryption, and that goes for any site you are linked to where your location may be encrypted. Hopefully, my wife's Nikon D-60 has no GPS capability. *Please, folks, check your photos that you post anywhere on the internet!! You could be giving out more info than you intended!!!*


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## CoolDavion (Dec 6, 2007)

It is scary what you can learn on line. I was in minor rear-end accident (I was the one hit). 
I checked the police web site, and it listed the full report, which I had listed my kids on since they were in the car.

I was not happy since it listed their names, ages, my name and our address.

After talking with the chief, he took my kids off of the online report, and said that they would re-evaluate their policy and not list minors on the reports posted online.


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## rimfire7891 (Jun 15, 2010)

Adam Savage has a Toyota Land Cruiser BJ42, not a heep.

Land Cruiser's have Special Technology Eradication Programming. STEP for short. This does not allow the GPS systems to map it whereabouts. Adam must have disabled his feature and is now paying the price.
Don't mess with internals of your TLC, you do so at your own peril.

Thanks jb


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

rimfire, 
The coordinates were embedded in the digital image of the photo. I doubt that the vehicle's GPS system was responsible for revealing it's location to the person who posted Adam's address, whether it was switched on or off. Essentially, this was posted to warn fellow LJs of the danger of unknowingly publishing GPS-embedded photos, whether here in the LJ site or elsewhere. BTW, I used to know of several 6 cyl TLC's that could be had for a song, since there was no factory on Earth that could keep up with their insatiable appetite for head gaskets. That's a topic for another thread, another time.


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## rimfire7891 (Jun 15, 2010)

Hi poop,

Had/have many TLC's and never replaced a head gasket. Let us know where all these TLC's are, can't have too many. By the way the STEP technology also protects against head gasket corrosion, its a very powerful application technology. VPAT for short.

Thanks jb


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## live4ever (Feb 27, 2010)

If you'd like to turn this off on your iPhone's camera, go to Settings > Location Services. Flip the switch for "Camera" to "off."


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks, live4ever! Strange how the default settings are never in our favor, right out of the box.


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## davcefai (Feb 6, 2009)

The "jpeg" format used by cameras is actually "exif" which includes "metadata" in the file. The metadata can be whatever the camera maker has programmed in. The original idea was that the camera settings would be saved with the picture but obviously feature creep has set in.

I've never played with this as I have not had any reason to but very probably you can strip out the metadata by loading the pic into a suitable application and resaving it.

My computer is at the moment non-functional and smelling slightly of charred plastic and this one is rather lacking in the kind of tools I would need but this has given me the inspiration for a little tinkering when normality resumes.


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## ArtistryinWood (Apr 21, 2008)

Be careful about posting pics of your shop and all those nice tools $$$

Andrew


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## baller (Nov 14, 2008)

yes, they continually come out with incremental steps of increasing surveillance, but always try to overemphasize one or two benefits or "convenience" factors of the technology….watch "police state 4: rise of fema" or "endgame: global enslavement" i promise u, there's so many more examples of stuff like this it would make ur head spin…the rfid license plate scanners, the trash bin tags, the implantable microchips that can fit into any hypodermic needle, the smart dirt, HAARP, etc etc ETC! WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO DAMNIT! must-resist-global-enslavement, i mean government…down with the New World Order! the key agenda being eugenics, or depopulation….figure it out folks


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Ahem… Thanks, Chris!! Yes, technology is a scary thing…especially if it gets into the hands of people who wish to make life uncomfortable… or destroy outright our way of life entirely! Discuss among yourselves, somebody wanna start a new thread about this, pleeeze? My aim here is only to caution people uploading project pics to be sure there is no GPS coordinates embedded in their digital images. For every perceived benefit of new technology, there is an evil twin with sinister intentions. I learned this from my Superman comics of the 50's and 60's, and it's ever more true today…..


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## docholladay (Jan 9, 2010)

I know that the camera on my cell phone can geo-code pictures that I take, if I desire. It is a feature that can be turned off. Most cell phones do have some method of location tracking. It has been required by the FCC as part of the E911 legislations a few years ago. Supposedly, the reason is because if someone calls 911, emergency personnel will be able to locate the person that has called. At least for now, however, you can turn off the Geo-Coding feature for the camera on most phones, but you would have to go into the menu. It probably is defaulted to geo-code out of the box, so itis a feature that you would have to manually deactivate.


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## woodspark (May 8, 2010)

Thank God I live in Africa, on a farm, in the mountains, with a super slow dail up connection and a REALLY old camera!


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks, *Doc!* But… We already had this technology for many years, tracing a 911 call without GPS that is. 
Ohh..I get it, for cell phones that could be anywhere, as opposed to land-lines to your home phone. Good info, Doc! 
*Div:* Sounds like paradise to me….don't give your coordinates away!


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## Greedo (Apr 18, 2010)

this makes me think about a french magazine who wanted to point out how we all put our info on the internet without being carefull.
they picked a random person who they didn't know and searched everything about him on the internet, they ended up with writing several pages about this person, where he went to school, where he went on holiday, where he lives, where he works, what he does, pictures of him on holiday, etc… leaving out his name.
the guy filed a complaint, but since he put all the info himself on different websites and forums it means it becomes public domain and anybody can use it for what they want!


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## baller (Nov 14, 2008)

i didn't even look at the link you shared originally, but looking back…u should be careful, ATS is a Known disinformation site. I mean yea, they got lots of cool alien stuff and all that, but a lot of stuff on there is Very questionable


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

They did a story a while back on one of the big network news programs about what people can do with cell phones. Don't ever let your cell phone out of your hands. The story basically went something like this and the news program demonstrated how it worked.

If someone can get your cell phone for as little as 30 seconds they can load a program into your phone that will do the following:

they can track your whereabouts from their computer,

they can listen to any conversation that you have with anyone, anytime, from their computer,

they can have your cell phone call up their computer automatically whenever you recieve a phone call or call someone yourself and then listen to and record your phone conversation and you not have any indication at all that someone is listening,

they can detect the series of keystrokes that you make on your cell phones from their computer so they can learn much that way.

The range is something like 5 miles. So as long as someone can stay inside 5 miles of you thaey can follow you arounsd and learn quite a lot about you. The software is sophisticated but is not anything that is new. You can download this software from the internet from a number of different places. It is readily available. All that it takes is the opportunity to get a hold of someones phone for about a minute to put the program on your phone without you knowing about it. This software is used mostly by private detectives, husbands and wives who think their spouses are cheating on them, businesses spying on their employees, businesses spying on their competitors, criminals spying on whomever, etc., etc., etc.

Now, here's the scary part. If this sort of software is easily obtained by anyone and is not hard to get off of the internet, can you image how much more sophisticated the programs that the government and large corporations have available to them only and what they might can do with it?


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