I don’t usually post video “warnings” on my blog. But this one is an exception. It’s almost amazing how much information may be included in a digital snapshot taken with a cell phone or digital camera.
In some instances you might want that information. Imagine that you were taking pictures of a criminal act; you’d probably want all of the relevant information captured.
In other instances (like photographing your stash of gold coins or your beautiful 12-year old daughter) you might not want all of the possible relevant information to be captured.
There’s nothing wrong with capturing all of the possible information available with your cell-phone photos, so long as access to those photos is kept private. But once you post those photos on the internet, all of the information (and it’s not just the photo itself) is available to anyone who sees and analyzes your photo. For example, a thief who sees you cell-phone photo of your gold on the internet can learn exactly where the photo was taken, and thereby know whichever house holds the gold. A child molester, seeing a photo on the internet of your stunningly beautiful 12-year old daughter, could discover exactly where she lives.
There are damn few secrets in the digital age.
Here’s a video that explains the dangers of cell-phone and digital camera photos.
video 00:04:32
