savage geotagging- shane barriscale

8/3/2019 Savage Geotagging- Shane Barriscale

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/savage-geotagging-shane-barriscale 1/28

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CS6031-InteractiveMediainSociety CristianoStorni

Mappingsocio-technicalissues

SavageGeotagging

ByInteractiveMediaMAstudents:

PaulO’Connor Chapter1............................................................ Timeline

MichaelParry Chapter2..... ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. . Controversy

ShaneBarriscale Chapter3............................................................ FromSavageToEveryday



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Chapter1

Timeline

TableofContents

Introduction........................................................................................................ page3

1994JEIDA.......................................................................................................... page3

1995CasioDSCQV-10........................................................................................ page3

1995AppleDevelopsW.A.L.T............................................................................ page4

1997FirstGPScamera........................................................................................ page4

1999BenefonEsc!............................................................................................. page5

2000SharpJ-SH04.............................................................................................. page5

2001Exif............................................................................................................. page6

2002NikonD1H.................................................................................................. page6

2003Cameraphonespop................................................................................... page6

2003Myspace..................................................................................................... page7

2004Facebook.................................................................................................... page7

2006worldofmobilephones............................................................................. page7

2006Twitter........................................................................................................ page8

2007Iphone........................................................................................................ page8

2007Technologicalconvergence........................................................................ page8

2008AppleiPhone3G......................................................................................... page9

2009AppleiPhone3Gs....................................................................................... page9

2010AdamSavage.............................................................................................. page10

TimeLineconclusion............................................................................................ page11



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Introduction

Thebasisforthisresearchfocusesonahistoricaltimelineofthetechnologicalactornetwork

thatdeveloped,mergedandledtothecontroversialeventofMythbusterspresenterAdam

SavageGeotagginghisownhome.Theaimistoincludemanydifferentactorsthatcontributed

totheSavageevent.ThiswillincludetheearlytechnologicalactorsthatmadeGeotagging

possibleandtheirmergewiththesocialnetworkingactorswhosemassivegrowth,in

combinationwithinteractivemediaresultsin

1“158millionimagesuploadedinthefirstfourmonthsof2010....4.3%aregeo-tagged”

TimeLine

1994

2JEIDA(JapanElectronicIndustryDevelopmentAssociation)JEIDAwerethefirsttodevelopa

standardformatforDigtalimagestoragethatincludedprovisionforExiffiledataimbeddedin

thedigitalimage.

1995

3CasioDSCQV-10camerawasthefirstactorthatprovidedanaffordableconsumerdigital

camerathatusedExifandstoredadditionalimbeddedinformationaboutthecamerassettings

withintheimagestaken.

1www.icsi.berkeley.edu/pubs/networking/cybercasinghotsec10.pdf

2http://exifpilot.com/exifdata.html 3http://ieeeghn.com/wiki/index.php/STARS-Proposal:Digital_Still_Cameras



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1995

4AppleDevelopsW.A.L.T.(WizzyActiveLifestyleTelephone).Thisfirstactorisadesign

concept,afuturevisionbyapplethatwillevolveintotheiphoneandin2007sold17million.

Appleisamainactorfromthestartofthetimelineandwillbecomehubforinteractivemedia

inthe21st

century.Itiskeytomanyareasoftheactornetwork.

5“Appleofferedupthepossibilityofanewportablevideophone/PDAconceptat1995’s

MacWorldExpo.TheNewton-likeVideoPadthree-in-oneprototypecombinedacellphone,

PDA,andvideophone.”

1997

ThefirstGPScameraforgovernmentandmilitaryusethathadGeotaggingcapabilities,the

combiningofdigitalcameraandGPSwasusedbythemilitarycovertly.

6“TheresultofthenewcombinationbetweenacameraandaGPSdevicewaskeptsecret,and

itwasonlyfewyearslaterthatbothNikonandKodakdecidetocommercializedtheirfirstGPS

camera”

4http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipad-iphone/news/index.cfm?newsid=25426

5http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/top_10_apple_products_apple_never_released

6http://studenttheses.cbs.dk/bitstream/handle/10417/1051/marco_montanaro.pdf?sequence=1



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1999

7BenefonEsc!wasthefirstmobilephonethathadaGPSintegrated.

TheactorwasahugestepthatenvisionedtherelationshipbetweenGPSlocationand

communicationprovidingakeylinkwithintheactornetwork.TheBenefonEsc!Wasalsothe

firstconsumeraffordablemobilephonewithGPS.

8Italsohadaninteresting“FriendFind”featurewhichallowedyoutotrackthewhereaboutsof

otherEsc!users.

2000

SharpJ-SH04(J-Phone)firstcameraphonemarketed.DistributedinJapanbyJPhonethis

phonewasverypopularanditisapparentthatcombininginteractivemediadeviceswasa

popularconcepttoalloweduserstocommunicatebyvoiceorimageinstantly.

9“Itwasaninstanthitwhenitwasintroducedinthelastpartof2000.”

7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoSentric

8http://www.finestdaily.com/top-10/10-mobile-phone-innovations-you-should-know-about.htm

9http://siliconcowboy.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/10-year-retrospective-cameras-have-revolutionized-cell-

phone-market/



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2001

10MostmanufacturersuseExif dataincameradevicesworldwide.

Exifembeddedcodeisacceptedasastandardfordigitalimagecapture.Manypeopleare

unawarethattheirdigitalimagescontainhiddeninformationrelatedtowhenandhowthe

imagewastaken.

2002

NikonD1HintroducedinthefirstDSLRwithaGPSinterface.Thistechnologywaspreviously

mainlyavailabletothegovernmentandmilitary,Nikonwasanactorinmakingthistechnology

availabletothepublic.

2003

Morecameraphonessoldworldwidethandigital

cameras.Asaresultoftechnologicalandproduction

methodsadvancethepopularityofaffordable,mobile

cameraphones.Asmorepeoplehavethecapabilityto

send,receiveandcollectimagesthedesireforsocial

networkactorsgrows.

11

Bytheendof2003morethan55millionconsumers

worldwidewillowncamera-phonehandsets.

10

http://www.iml.unibas.ch/dokumente/ExIF.pdf

11

http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/August2003/5738.htm

Figure1

http://studenttheses.cbs.dk/bitstream/handle/1

0417/1051/marco_montanaro.pdf?sequence=1



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2003

12Myspacewasfoundedin2003andby2008ithad100millionuserswithamonthlygrowthof

178%.Thegrowthinsocialnetworkingisdirectlyrelatedtothepopularityofdigitalmedia

communication.Intheactornetworkthesocialnetworkingisakeyfacilitatoringatherand

transferringdigitalimagery.

2004

Thesocialnetworkingcontinuestogainpopularityandin2004Facebookreachesnearly13

1

millionactiveusers.

14

FacebookisasocialnetworkingserviceandWebsitelaunchedinFebruary2004,operated

andprivatelyownedbyFacebook,Inc.AsofJuly2011,Facebookhasmorethan800million

activeusers.

2006

Halfoftheworld'smobilephoneshadabuilt-incamera.Thehugepopularityofdigitalmedia

communicationcontinuestogrow.Socialnetworkingsitesevolvetomeettheneedsoftheir

usersandallowforthestorageformoredigitalimageuploadsandsitecross-linking.

15SharefeatureaddedonFacebook,simultaneouslylaunchedonover20partnersites.

AsSocialnetworksitescross-lingandshareacrossmorepartnersitesthenetworkofactors

spreads.

12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace

13

http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?timeline

14

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

15




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2006

TwitterwascreatedinMarch2006byJackDorseyandlaunchedthatJuly.Twitterrapidly

gainedworldwidepopularity,with200millionusersasof2011,generatingover200million

tweetsandhandlingover1.6billionsearchqueriesperday.

2007

Appleiphonebuilt-incamerasmartphone.Thefirstgenerationiphonesetthestagefor

anotheradvanceinhowpeopleinteractwithdigitalmultimediacommunicationdevices.Its

uniqueeaseofusemadeitincrediblyeasyforpeopletouseit,themostsuccessfulSmart

Phoneever,theAppleiPhone.Itbecamethefirstmulti-touchscreenphone.iPhonebecame

instanthitinUSwithstrongdesignaestheticandeaseofuse.SeveralhundredpeopleinNew

YorkcampedoutsidetheApplestoreover100hoursbeforethephone’srelease

16In2007,about40%ofAmericansownamobilephone,comparedwith80%ofBritons

2007

In2007furtheradvancesintechnologyandproductionthemethodsmakeitpossibleforthe

Technologicalconvergenceofthekeyactorsinouractornetwork.Forthefirsttimeitwas

possible,practicalandaffordabletointegratemobilephone,digitalcamera,GPSandnetwork

datacommunicationactorswithinonesmall,pocketsizeddevice.

16

http://www.buzzom.com/2010/01/history-of-mobile-phones-1985-to-today-video/



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2008

Appleiphone3Gbringstogethertheprevioustechnologicalactors.Theseactorswerefeatures

thathadindependentlyexisted,howevertheactionofmergingallthefunctionsintoone,easy

tousedevicealloweditsuserstocommunicateanduploadGeotaggedimageswhileonthe

move.

17TheiPhone3GbroughtthecompleteGeotagcapabilityatthetipoftheuser’sfinger,iPhone

3GbyAppleInc.isalsoequippedwithaGPSreceiver,andusesthereceivertoGeotag

photographstakenwiththedevice.

2009

ApplereleasesiPhone3GsreleasedinAugust2009

TheiPhone3Gsbringstogethertheprevioustechnologicalactors,featuresthathad

independentlyexisted,howevertheactionofmergingallthefunctionsintoonedeviceallowed

itsuserstocommunicateanduploadGeotaggedimageswhileonthemove.Thisaccumulation

oftechnologiesintoasingledevicewasamajoractorinsettingthestageforAdamSavageto

unknowinglyGeotaghisownhomeinapublicdomain.

17

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchangeable_image_file_format



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2010

By2010iPhonehasreleasediPhone3Gs,allowingforfasterrateofdatatransferandalso

incorporatingvideocaptureandunloadcapabilities.OnFebruary9,2010at8:26:14AM

MythBustershost,AdamSavageGeotagshisownhome.

Figure2AdamSavageGeotagginghishomelocation

http://twitpic.com/128p1b



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Timelineconclusion

AdamSavageownedaniPhone3GsandSavagewasapparentlyunawarehisiPhone3Gs

Geotaggedalltheimagestaken.SavagetakesaphotoofhisjeepwithhisiPhoneanduploaded

ittotheTwitpicSocialnetworkwithinthepublicdomain.

18TwitPicisawebsitethatallowsuserstoeasilypostpicturestotheTwittermicro-bloggingandsocial

mediaservice.

Geotagtechnologynotonlyrevealedhishomeaddress,butalsotimeanddate,phonemake

andmodelandseveralotheritemsofdataheapparentlydidn’trealisehewassending.Also

becauseofthenatureofinterminglingsocialnetworksites,hisimagewaspotentiallyavailable

acrossseveralwebsites,includingFacebookandaccessiblebymillionsofpeople.

19ByJuly2010Facebookreachesover500millionactiveusers.

Themassivegrowthinsocialnetworkingandpostingofpersonaldetailsprovideopportunities

formarketresearchanddata-mining,thisisanotheractorintheGeotagactornetwork.The

imagesandExifdetailsthatpeopleareuploadingtosocialnetworkingsitesaregatheredfor

marketingreasons.Forexampleallimagesuploadedto

20Facebookare“scraped”toremoveExifdate,howeverthescrapeddataiscollectedandused

toprofiletheirusers.

18

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TwitPic

19


20

http://zaalabs.com/2010/07/finding-celebrity-locations-via-twitter/



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TwitterisalsoaprominentactorinthenetworkandithasinteractedwithiPhonetocreate

applicationsoftwarethatisdesignedfortheintegrationbetweenTwitterandtheiPhone,

weatherthishadandinfluenceonAdamSavagechoosingtwitterisunclear,however

21TwitterdevelopedtheAppleDesignAward-winningTwitterclientTweetiefortheMacand

iPhone.Theapplication,nowcalled"Twitter"anddistributedfreeofcharge,istheofficial

TwitterclientfortheiPhone.

ThehugepopularityoftheSocialnetworkingmediumcombinedwiththefastdevelopmentofits

relatedtechnologicalmobilecommunication-multimediadeviceswithlocationrecognitioncreatesa

levelofinformationsharingonamassivescale.Everydaymillionsofpeopleworldwideconnectand

shareinformationandimageswithotherusersandmakeresearchdata-minerswithoutrealizingit.

22around2.25milliondailyimagesharesonTwitter,45.7%comefromTwitPic.

21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

22

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TwitPic



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Chapter2

Controversy

TableofContents

Background............................................................................................................ Page14

MainBody.............................................................................................................. Page15

TheInfographic(spiral)......................................................................................... Page16

ActorRelationships............................................................................................... Page17

Conclusions........................................................................................................... Page18



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Background

23ThebasisforthegeotaggingresearcharosefromastorypublishedintheNewYorkTimeson

11th

August2010involvingDiscovery’sMythbusterspresenterAdamSavage.Savageposteda

photoofhisnewjeepparkedoutsidehishouseontotwitter.Unknowinglyhehadincludeda

geotaglocationwiththephoto.Thispostwasshortlyfollowedbyatextpoststatinghewasoff

towork.Thesetwopiecesofinformationontheirownforexample,revealalotaboutthe

celebritieswhereaboutsanddaytodayactivitiestopotentialthievesandotherunsavoury

attention.AdamSavagereportedthatasapresenterofatechnologybasedTVshow.

Thisisnotanisolatedincidentinvolvingcelebrtitiesrevealingsensitiveinformationsuchas

location,habits,lifestyleetc.OnJulythe10th

2010NateBeckpresentedhissearchfindingson

geotaggedcelebritiesthathediscoveredusingsomecodedscript.Fromalistof147celebrities

whohadpubliclyviewablephotosonsitessuchastwitterNate’ssearchshowedthatfromthe

2411,688imagesfoundthat878or7.8%containedgeotagdata.Other’highprofile’celebrities

includedinhisfindingswereTomHanks,KellyClarksonandBrittanyspearstonameafew.

Celebritieswerechosenforthisstudyastheviralnatureofgeotaggingisfasterandthe

profilingofhabitshaswiderimplications.

23

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/technology/personaltech/12basics.html?pagewanted=a

ll

24

http://zaalabs.com/2010/07/finding-celebrity-locations-via-twitter/



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MainBody

Themain‘Actors’inthisnetworkwerelaidoutinnoparticularorderandassociationswere

drawnbetweenthem.Fromthis‘map’,otherlessapparentmapsbegantorevealthemselves.

Onesuchmapisthesensationalismthatsurroundscelebrityprofilingwhichfurtherfeedsthe

controversy.

Inordertoillustratethescaleofthesensationilsmthatcanarisewhenacelebritysuchas

AdamSavagerevealssensitiveinformationabouthimselfontheweb.

25InAugust2010Mythbustershadweeklyviewerfiguresofthirtyfivethousand.

26Flickrhaveoverthreebillionuploadedphotosofwhichoveronehundredmillionare

geotagged.

27TherecentincreaseinmobiledevicefunctionalitysuchasthefasterinternetspeedGPS

capabilityandimprovedcameracapabilities(MPandvideo)hasmeantthatfacebooknowhas

over65millionusersaccesingthesitewithmobiledevices.

25

http://www.barb.co.uk/report/weeklyTopProgrammes26

http://code.flickr.com/blog/2009/02/04/100000000-geotagged-photos-plus/27

http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/02/01/social-media-statistics-facebook-twitter-flickr-

linkedin/



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TheInfographic(spiral)

TheInfographic(spiral)representstheviralnatureofthistypeofsensationalismandhowthisprofilingcouldthenbeusedtotrackthewhereaboutsandactivitiesofcelebrities.

AdamSavageistheinitiatingactorashepoststhephotographembeddedwiththeexif

metadatawhichincludestheGPScoordsaswellasotherinformationsuchasdevicetypeand

devicesettingsontwitterusinghisIphone.

Themetadataisfoundandispublicisedusingtwitterandisthenspreadusingothersocial

networks.Theinformationaboutthisisreadandpassedonbetweenusers.Someoftheusers

willbebepartoftheMythbustersfanbase,Dataminers,asmallnumberwillincludethe

press,butmostwillbe‘general’users(bywhichincludefollowersofblogs,generalwebusers

andnoseypeople).Thenatureofthesocialnetworkssuchasfacebook,twitter,picasa,flickr

andyoutubeallowsonetolinktoanotherbytheuseoftabssuchasfacebook’s‘like’etc.

Creatingakindofsuperactornetworkwhichcatchandshareanystory/informationthatmay

ormaynotbeofinteresttoanyone.Theactorthatresidesoverallofthesocialnetworksis

Google,andisabletotrackandcollateallthedatathatpassesthroughthesocialnetwork

sites.GooglealsoownYouTubeandPicasa.AndGooglemapsisusedtomaptheexifdata

geotags.



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ActorRelationships

Thenewwaveofmobiledevicesarenowwebenabledandtheircapabilitiesincreasewith

everynewiteration(iPhone3,3GS,4).Speculatively,thedevelopmentstothemobiledevices

couldbeseentobemadetofacilitatethegatheringandcollectionofmetadata;although,user

demandsontheproducerstoprovidethisserviceisequallypossible.

Themetadatainthisnetworkisalittlemorediscreet.Manyusers(includingAdamSavage)

knowofitsexistance,but;asinthecaseofAdamSavage,hefailedtorealisethatthis

informationcouldbecorrelatedwithotheronlineinformationsuchastextualtweets,blogsetc

toproduceadetailedprofileofhislocationandlifestyleanddaytodayroutine.TheNYTimes

reportstated28

“potentialthievesknewhewouldnotbeathome.”

Thesocialnetworkingsitesthatcollectanddisplaythisinformation(onlysomeofwhichare

usedinthisstudy).Facebookinterestinglydoesnotdisplaythisexifmetadata,butfacebookis

usedinthechainofthevarioussocialnetworksviathe‘like’buttonandcommunication

betweenuserstospreadthestory.Theycandisplaythephotosiflinkedfromflickrorpicasa

etcbutthemetadataisnot.

Thesheervolumeofgeotaggedphotographs(asmentionedearlier)wouldhelptoinformthe

socialnetworksitedesignersonhowtobestconstructtheirsitestoaccommodateandbest

utilisethisinformation.Thiswouldalsoinformthedevicemanufacturersandnetwork

providersastohowtoimrovethedesignoftheirmobiledevicestofacilitatetheeasebywhich

userscantakephotograpohsanduploadthemtothesocialnetwork.Thisisexemplifiedbythe

AppleiPhonewhichsincetheiPhone3hasseenmanytechnicalimprovementsinitsiterations

totoday’siPhone4,fromahigherspecificationcamera,andvideocamera,improvedwifi

capability(andavailability).TheAdamSavagestoryattractedenoughattentionforittobe

shownonnewswebsites,blogsandthemoretraditionalmediaservicessuchasabcnewsand

theNewYorkTimes,whichinturnfurtherdrovethesensationalism.

28

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/technology/personaltech/12basics.html?pagewanted=a

ll



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Conclusions.

Quiteaninterestingexplorationofthevariousactorsandtheirrelationshipswithintheactor

network.AlthoughnoharmcametoAdamSavageorhisproperty,theincidentraised

awarenessastothepossibleimplicationsofknowinglyorunknowinglypublishingsuch

sensitiveinformation.Theexplosioninthevolumeofgeotaggeddatabeganinlate2009,early

2010andnowthereareover100,000,000geotaggedphotographsonFlickralone.EricFischer

hascompiledsomeofthisdatatoformetamapstoillustratethenumberofphotostakenin

certaingeographicallocations:

London SanFransisco

Theseimagesshowsomeofthemorepositiveusesforthistypeofdataandisusedinthis

studytobalancethenegativeissuesthatwerediscussedearlier.

Interestingly,itwasthelessapparentactorssuchassensationalism.Also,thetechnological

advancementsbythemobiledevicemanufacturersthewebdevelopersandthewireless

networkproviderswhichareinformedbythedemandofusersonthisservice.Thenetwork

comesacrossasaOuroborostheancientsymbolofthesnakethateatsitself.29

“The

Ouroborosoftenrepresentsself-reflexivityorcyclicality,especiallyinthesenseofsomething

constantlyre-creatingitself,theeternalreturn.”

29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros



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Chapter3

FromSavagetoEveryday

TableofContents

VoluntaryTagging

Introduction......................................................................................................... Page20

VoluntaryTagging............................................................................................... Page21

AccidentalMapping............................................................................................. Page23

LiveTracking.......................................................................................................... Page24

Conclusions............................................................................................................ Page25



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Introduction

Thesensationalism actorinthecaseofSavageplayedahugepartinthespreadofthestory.However,

whenyoutakeoutthefameelementassociatedwithSavage,hisactionscanbeexploredasanumber

ofseparateelementsinthecontextofrealworld/everydayusers,andthesebegintopaintapictureof

theamountofdataonegeotaggedphoto/videoorlocationcanrevealaboutyou.Savageprovidedthree

elementsofkeyinformationinhistaggedimage-thevehiclehedrives,hisaddress,thetimestampof

whenheleavesforwork.Becauseofhisstatus,thiswasenoughtocreateabuzzaroundhim.For

everyoneelsethepotentialdangersassosiatedwithgeotaggingcomewhenyoulookabitfurtherthan

thesourceimage,andbeginexploringthemediathathostimagesandshareinformationsuchas

facebook,twitter,flickr,googleetc.thathosttrovesofinformationoneveryinternetuser.



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VoluntaryTagging

ShaneBarriscale-VirtualChoirVideo201130

-VoluntaryTagging

Hereweseeanexampleofvoluntarygeotagging.Thevideoispartofaprojectwheresingersfromall

overtheworlduploadedavideorecoringoftheirpartofachoralworkandtheyweresubsequebtly

stitchedtogetherandmixedintoacompletedpiece.Theyalsohadtobegeotaggedbyeachuseron

youtubesothataworldmapcouldbedrawnanddisplayedonthewebsite.

30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30AunuJcIlQ



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Thismethodofvoluntarytaggingisusedprimarilybyyoutubeandfacebook,neitherofwhichatpresent

operateamanditorygeotaggingsystemforuploadedphotos.Whatweseehereisanexampleof

‘accidentalmapping’.Asourdigitalfootprintincreasesandconnectionsbetweenthecommonlyused

socialnetworksflourish,weseehoweasyitistopaintasubstantialprofileonsomeoneusingonly

informationwhichisvoluntarilyputoutintothepublicrealm.Thesimpleactoftaggingavideoforthe

worldhasresultedintangiblelinkstomyemail,name,address,appearance,academichistory,and

manymorewhichcanbeseenontheattachedmap.

Allthisinformationaboutmeontheinternetispurelydata.Thatis,untilsomeonechoosestoaccessit

anduseitinsomeway.Thenthe informationbecomesanactor,asconnectionsaremadebetweenthe

sourcepersonandtheinternetusersatlarge.Somehottopicswherethisbecomesrelevantarein

regardstolegalissuesaboutprivacyandcrimerelatedinstancessuchasstalkingandtargetting,theft

andevencyberbullying.Otherinstancesrelatetosocio-commercialintersestssuchasmaketresearch,

advertisingandstatistics.Isupposethemostinterestingrevelvationisthatunlikethe‘Census’ofold,

thisinformationisbecomingmoreandmorefreelyavailable,andthecollectionandcompilationdatais

happeningmorebehindthescenes.

AnarticleinaUSmagazine‘TheDailyBeast’reportsthatofthe3.4millionreportedcasesofstalkingreportedintheyear2005-2006,that25%ofthesewereasaresultofacybertechnologysuchasemail

andinstantmessaging.31

Withtheprevelanceofgeolocatingsoftwareinphotosandsocialnetworking,

itsnowonderthatwebsitessuchas ICanStalkYou.com andPleaseRobMe.com cameintoprominence.

InthemidstoftheGeotaggingphenomenonisalatentfearaboutthepotentialofrevealingsomuch

information,coupledwithpeoplesconstantthirstformoreandmoreconnectionstootherpeople.

Toreferencetheattachedmap,asearchformyname,connectedtotheyoutubevideorevealedeleven

websitesinthefirstfewpagesofgooglecontaininingdataaboutme,ShaneBarriscale,threeofwhichI

wasunawareof.

31

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/08/08/foursquare-and-stalking-is-geotagging-dangerous



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AccidentalMapping

WiredMagazine-ObservationalTagging-AccidentalMapping

Aninterestingcasestudythatwasconductedshowsaformofobservationalgeotagging.Thesourceisa

Wiredmagazinearticlefrom2009thatdetailsareporterobservingawomantakingaphotofromher

iPhoneingoldengatepark.Helatersearched flickrforimagestaggedinthatlocationandsubsequebtly

locatedtheusersname,address,imagesfromtheinsideofherapartment, timestampsand

geographicallocations ofallthegeotaggedphotosshehaduploaded,andsubsequently trendsofher

movements.Thebenignresultsofthisinformationonceagainwillleadtoongoingmethodsofmarket

researchandsocialstudies,maybesomethinglikethelocalversustouristmapsdrawnfornumerous

citiesbyEdFischer(mentionedearlierinthetext).However,asshownintheattachedmap,itcouldalso

leadanyotherinternetusertoviewprivatephotosoftheinsideofherapartmentaswellastrendsof

whensheisnotathome.Inthemap,Itriedtomaptheseverityofprivacyviolationusingthecoloured

legend.Thegraphicontherightpaintsaconceptualpictureofthepeoplewholookforthisinformation,

wheteritsbenignsuchasnameandemailaddress,orpersonalsuchasinformationaboutliving

environmentandactivitypatterns.

Thankfullythiswasonlyaninvestigativereport.Thesamereporteralsodiscussedasimilarcasetothe

VirtualChoirreferenceabove,whereasimplecheckinonWhrrl.com,alocationbasedappforiPhone,

sentapingtotwitter,facebookandFriendFiendpromptinghishomelocationtoappearonfacebook

withouthisapproval32

.

32

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireledd/magazine/17-02/lpguineapig?currentPage=all



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LiveTracking

GeosocialNetworks-Grindr/Blendr-LiveTracking

PerhapsthemostinterestingdevelopmentinrecentyearsisthatofGeosocialNetworking.Nolongeris

geotaggingconfinedtophotos,or‘Checkins’suchasthoseseenonFacebookPlacesandFoursquare.

Certainnewapplicationsoperatealivetrackingandgeolocatingfunctionusingmobileintenetthat

allowsyoutoseeonamapactiveusersinrealtime.Thistakesthenotionof‘Checkins’toawholenew

level.Nolongerisitavoluntarygeolocationbutageolocationwhichisalwaysonassoonasyoulogin.

Onesuchexampleofthisisthehook-upwebsitesGrindr.com(forgaymen)andmorerecently

Blendr.com(forallsexualities)Thisallowsuserstoseeotheractiveusersonalivemapandmake

requestsformeetingsthereandthen.Accordingtoanarticleonmarketwatch.com,thewebsitenow

has3millionusersin192countries33

andrecentlydevelopedappsforbothfacebookanditunes.

Whenitcomestoprivacyconcerns,scepticstendtobrushthemoffasspeculation,declaringthat

mobilephonetechnologyhasbeentraceableforyears. 34However,GPStechnologycoupledwithWIFI

hasanaccuracyofbetween10and30meters.Andwithsomanysocialnetworksandappsthatcan

accessthisinformation,thecauseforprivacyconcernsarefargreaternowthanthheywereintheearly

mobilephoneera.TakeforexampletheGoldenGateParkcaseabove,ormyownexperienceofafriend

declaringgleefullyabouthisGrindrapp“Oh,user1234isonly300metresfromhere”

33http://www.marketwatch.com/story/grindr-and-blendr-announce-executive-leadership-team-to-drive-geo-

social-networking-product-expansion-2011-10-1334

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireledd/magazine/17-02/lpguineapig?currentPage=all



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Conclusion

FromInfancytoHotTopic

ThetimelineassociatedwiththegrowthofGeotaggingshowsarapidgrowthintechnologyprovidingit

asanoptionandtheamountofusersaccessingandactivelyusingthisfunction.AnsimpleGoogle

searchrevealsasmanypageshighlightingthepotentialdangersofGeotaggingastherearesites

promotingandsellingit.

AbigailSellen’sarticle.‘ReflectingHumanValuesintheDigitalAge35

’hitsoffmanyimportantpoints

regardingthefutureofHumanComputerInteractionandgivesastrongindicationaboutthepotential

futureofintenetandcomputerusers.Thelossof‘interfacestability’hasalreadyhappenedaswenow

comeintocontactwithsomanydevicesinourdaytodaycomingsandgoing.Thegrowthof‘techno-

dependency’‘andhyperconnectivity’hasmadeususedtohavinginformationrightatourfingertips.It

alsoservestomakeusdesiremoreandmore,tothepointwherebanneradsforpopularwebsitesnow

containindicationsofthemoveinsocialnormstoabehaviourthatreadsassomethingmoresinister.

36

Somethingconstantlymentionedthroughoutthismappingstudyisthelossofprivacy,highlightingthe

highprofilecaseofAdamSavage,andsubsequentlyexploringthepotential,everydayavailabilityof

locationbasedinformation,andalltheinfothatcanbefoundwithit.Sellenreferstothisasthe‘Lossof

theEphemeral’,ortemporary.Everybitofinformationoutthereispotentiallyanactor,andourdigital

footprintiseverexpanding.Thegraphicsonthemapsstarttoshowtheeverexpandingdatafromsingle

sources.ThesebegintohelpusvisualisetheimpactofGeotaggingcoupledwithourgrowingDigital

Footprintinworldwheretechnologyisnowoneofthebiggestplayers.

35

Sellen,‘ReflectingHumanValuesintheDigitalAge ’.P.6136

www.videoweed.com



26|P a g e

ActorsMapTimeLinebyPaulO’Connor



27|P a g e

ControversyMapbyMichaelParry

InfographicspiralbyMichaelParry



VoluntaryTaggingMapbyShaneBarriscale

savage geotagging- shane barriscale

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