[meteorite-list] Geotagging

[dave carothers]

I don't recall this subject having been posted before.  My apologies if it
is redundant.

Imagine you've just found a new strewn field and want to keep the location
secret for a while.  Still, you take a digital photo of one of your new
space rocks with your GPS-enabled smartphone and post it on the Internet to
display your new find.  Without realizing it, you have potentially just
broadcast the location of your find to the entire world.  Those of you  who
are not familiar with the term geotagging, might want to read on.

Geotagging is a process of adding geographical identification to
photographs, video, websites and SMS messages. It is the equivalent of
adding a 10-digit grid coordinate to everything you post on the internet.
Geotags are automatically embedded in pictures taken by smartphones with
built-in GPS (if that function is enabled).  Digital photos have used
geotagging for quite some time. Certain formats like the JPEG format allow
geographical information to be embedded within the image and then read by
picture viewers, showing the exact location where a picture was taken.
Google "geotagging" for more information on the subject.

If you want to avoid displaying too much information from your digital pics,
disable the geotagging function on your smartphone.

I hope you find the information useful.