I was paging through Twitter once, looking at a user’s profile who had RT’d me, and in her photo album was a distinctive image of a pier on a beach. I managed to track down the town she lived in. Looking at another photo taken from her kitchen window I managed to track down not only her street, but the actual window of the building she lived in.
She lived in the UK, I live in Australia, there’s no risk of me visiting her unexpectedly, and I didn’t know her or communicate with her in any way. But it took me less than an hour to find exactly where she lived, no geotagging required. I don’t think many people realise how easy it is to track someone down.
And then I think to myself, it’s no different than if I went up to a random house right now and knocked on their door, which very few people do, so what’s the big deal anyway?
No sir, it’s not hard for me to understand, at all. I’m perfectly cognizant of the fact that there’s no need to add a smiley to every post one makes.
But I like 'em for the little ‘splash’ of color they provide. Deal with it.
And JFTR, I don’t add them to every post that I make. :rolleyes:
My apologies for suggesting that your post should have had/needed one.
So I’m a little ‘behind the times and stuck in my ways’.
<Steve Martin-circa SNL years> Well, excuuuuuuse me!
Based on the discussion here, I’m guessing the answer to my question is no, there has never been a case of a predator seeing a picture of a child they didn’t know online and deciding to hunt them down.
But everyone can reach more of their potential with determined help: earlier this week, British media reported that due to the quest for cheap labour Insurance companies are using prisoners in jails to phone-sell their products to homeowners and take lists of their valuables.
I remember hearing about Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame posting a photo somewhere that was taken in his driveway that sure enough gave away his location: an example of a location someone might be interested in.
It was also the point at which I became aware of this capability.
