At times, people put their privacy at risk just because they do not know how to protect it. The use of GPS technology has really made it easier for people to find places and locations more easily. When driving through an unfamiliar area, finding a restaurant or an ATM in town, GPS is needed. Recently, some concerns have been raised concerning privacy issues in the use of tracking technology. Many phones and cameras are now equipped with GPS, and users like its features from regular photo taking to uploading on the internet.
The worries center on the risks involved with anybody being able to locate a user by accessing his or her cell phone data. These days, phones can store data on the whereabouts of a person, particularly location. The phone owner's location data can be easily mapped - where he or she had been for a period of time - with the help of Google maps.
GPS-enabled phones or cameras save photos using EXIF data which means Exchangeable Image File. The EXIF annotation is used in almost all new models of digital cameras. This enables storage of photos to consist of shutter speed, F number, exposure compensation, ISO number, date and time the image was taken, etc. The foregoing does not pose problems on privacy, but are just information about characteristics of the stored data. What stirs worry is that some cameras are capable of storing GPS information on the photo so that one can easily pinpoint where it was taken.
Apple and Google have the same opinion towards this privacy issue. They say that the users have to be responsible for protecting their privacy. The technology is there, but users are the ones who can decide whether or not to use it. Users can easily disable, or switch off location tracking features in their phones. Furthermore, Google also denied the traceability of identification numbers of each phone signal. It could be recalled that Google assigns a unique signal for each handset.
Taking this premise, some groups of users do not accept the idea of not using GPS features. They say that GPS is such a useful technology that a user can make good use of it. Also, the newest apps are typically location enabled. Not using this technology may put a user in a more disadvantaged situation.
Users can continue to pressure phone manufacturers and lawmakers to set limits on the use of GPS data. They can also hope that the government could move more rapidly in order to catch up with the fast-changing technology. Meanwhile, the best that can be done for the moment is to protect one's own privacy.
One way of doing this is by limiting data sharing, especially when using GPS enabled phones and cameras. One should take time to know what happens to data that they upload to any website, in particular social networking sites. Most sites always ask the user whether he or she wants to share the information before posting. This makes privacy the full responsibility of the user.
The worries center on the risks involved with anybody being able to locate a user by accessing his or her cell phone data. These days, phones can store data on the whereabouts of a person, particularly location. The phone owner's location data can be easily mapped - where he or she had been for a period of time - with the help of Google maps.
GPS-enabled phones or cameras save photos using EXIF data which means Exchangeable Image File. The EXIF annotation is used in almost all new models of digital cameras. This enables storage of photos to consist of shutter speed, F number, exposure compensation, ISO number, date and time the image was taken, etc. The foregoing does not pose problems on privacy, but are just information about characteristics of the stored data. What stirs worry is that some cameras are capable of storing GPS information on the photo so that one can easily pinpoint where it was taken.
Apple and Google have the same opinion towards this privacy issue. They say that the users have to be responsible for protecting their privacy. The technology is there, but users are the ones who can decide whether or not to use it. Users can easily disable, or switch off location tracking features in their phones. Furthermore, Google also denied the traceability of identification numbers of each phone signal. It could be recalled that Google assigns a unique signal for each handset.
Taking this premise, some groups of users do not accept the idea of not using GPS features. They say that GPS is such a useful technology that a user can make good use of it. Also, the newest apps are typically location enabled. Not using this technology may put a user in a more disadvantaged situation.
Users can continue to pressure phone manufacturers and lawmakers to set limits on the use of GPS data. They can also hope that the government could move more rapidly in order to catch up with the fast-changing technology. Meanwhile, the best that can be done for the moment is to protect one's own privacy.
One way of doing this is by limiting data sharing, especially when using GPS enabled phones and cameras. One should take time to know what happens to data that they upload to any website, in particular social networking sites. Most sites always ask the user whether he or she wants to share the information before posting. This makes privacy the full responsibility of the user.
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It is not just telephones that can give away your actual location. Every time you browse the Internet you are letting websites know where you are. To surf anonymously use an anonymous proxy to mask your actual location.
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