Protect the privacy of your grandchildren and anyone else whose photos you upload online. I was recently shocked when I learned how fully hackers are able to track locations of people from pictures posted on the Internet.

If you are interested in privacy and security, the following NBCActionNews video is a “must-watch.” I’m not sure if there is much difference in the relevant technology since this interview was uploaded in November 2010. At the time, the officer interviewed called this “hidden threat” “today’s biggest risk online.”

Watch it and you will see that locations of bedrooms, schools, where the children hangout, and much more, were all trackable from information gleaned from online photos. Below the video you will see a tutorial on how to change Location Services settings in the iPhone and iPad to protect your loved ones from privacy invasion.

As you review the steps below, if you cannot easily find similar settings for your own smart phone, check out Wiki’s “How to Avoid the Potential risks of Geotagging.” This article points out that some digital cameras also geotag by default. In addition, you can do a web search for information on your specific phone model phone or camera.

How to Secure Your Settings on the iPhone (and iPad)

1 – Open Settings on your Home Screen

2 – Click on Privacy

3 – Click on Location Services

4 – A listing of all of your Apps will show up here

Turn OFF Camera and any photo associated Apps as well as any other app you wish not to have geotagged.  You can always give permission later if a specific App requires location services for an action you want to take.

5 – Go back to Privacy under Settings and click on Photos (see above). Then click on all the Apps for which you want to disable location services.

Note on the top of this Photos screen it states: “Photos stored on your iPhone may contain other information such as when and where the photo was taken.”

With Facebook turned OFF I can no longer post photos directly from my iPhone.  I will keep this off, until I’m sure that turning Camera to OFF in Location Services was the full protection for which I am looking.  AND, I still should be able to upload to Facebook from my computer and maintain the privacy I set up in Step 4.

Watch for a follow-up to this post with a different video on geotagging.

Please share your experiences and questions in “Leave a Reply…” in the box below. As always, if you have any questions, leave them also in the “Reply” box or address them to me at easyseniortechnology@gmail.com