Snapping a photo could be risky move

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - When we arrived at Mark Wiemer’s doorstep unannounced with our cameras rolling he was shocked. Not because the lens was pointed in his direction, but because we knew some very key details about his life. We were able to tell him where he lived, who his wife was, even down to the costume his granddaughter wore on Halloween.

“I’m impressed, but it’s scary when you think about it,” said Wiemer.

We were able to track down the Wiemers with a simple photo his wife posted on Picasa that was taken in front of their house.

That one photo contained all the ingredients we needed to find the Wiemers. In that picture was a geotag, that bit of data provides the longitude and latitude of where the photo was taken. Thus taking us to the Wiemers Home.

“I could see where someone who wanted to hurt someone would benefit from this,” he said.

This bit of information should alarm everyone who has a GPS-functioning smartphone or digital camera. Many cell phone users don’t even know there is a reason to worry.

The average user may not know their phone or cameras even have this option because it is not visible to the casual viewer.

“People need to be made aware of this technology is out there,” said Sgt. Michael Hornbrook who is charge of IMPD’s Computer Crime Unit.

During our investigation, 24-Hour News 8 found a large amount of pictures on web pages like Flicker, Twitter and Picasa that contained geo-tags in them. The snapshots we gathered were of college co-eds, small children, and single women.

Their locations were all readily available after we downloaded a free browser plugin. Once downloaded, you can locate just about anyone who’s ever posted a picture.

“This is not a hacker tool”, said Charles Dillon, Digital Developer for WISH-TV. “This piece of software is on most base model computers,” he said.

There is a way to protect yourself; all you need to do is turn off the geo-location features associated with the camera. We’ve outlined the steps for you here.

“I’m going to get in the house and call my son and daughter and tell them what to do,” says another woman we startled after we found her home after she posted a picture.

Some say we are wrong for doing this investigation, but our goal was to inform the public how innocent pictures can be a roadmap for criminals. As we left Mark Wiemer’s house, the man we visited first in this story, he had something he wanted to share with us.

“Thank you for making me aware of this, I’m going to tell my daughter about this,” said Wiemer.

It seems we are not the only ones who are taking extra precautions. Some websites like Facebook have added increase protection and have hidden the geo-tags so those who click on your picture can’t pinpoint your location.

That is unless you tell them.