Networking and Security

Photos and videos uploaded to Web sites may be revealing more information than their posters intended, experts say, leading to real-world vulnerabilities. Such postings can carry detailed information about where and when the images were recorded, leaving people's homes or businesses open to "cybercasing" and possible criminal attacks in the real world, an International Computer Science Institute release said Tuesday.

The photos and videos you upload could reveal a lot about where you are. Data stored in digital photographs can help criminals locate individuals and plot real-world crimes, a practice two researchers called "cybercasing" in a recently published paper. The site Pleaserobme.com was one of the first to expose the problem by displaying tweets tagged with location information, although it has since stopped the practice.

Keeping tabs on your favorite celebrities might be easier than you think -- and much easier than they want. But they likely have no one to blame but themselves. According to two teams of computer scientists, Hollywood stars could be unintentionally giving up the exact locations of their homes and private whereabouts through pictures uploaded to the Internet, leaving them wide open to attacks by tech-savvy thieves (not to mention unwanted visits by starstruck fans).

People were up in arms this week about the privacy implications of news that the iPhone gathers location information and stores it in a file on the user’s computer. But experts say that smart-phone owners are unknowingly taking a much bigger risk with information about where they go all day.

Firefox: It's not just Facebook that's actively tracking your movements on the Web without your consent: Google, LinkedIn, and others do the same, although most other services make it easier to opt out. If you want to use those services when you want without trading your privacy for the privilege, Priv3 is a Firefox extension that gives you back the ability to choose.