Episode #5 - Geotagging, Social Media, and Sharing Your Travel

In today’s episode, we discuss geo-tagging, social media, and a few safety tips you should consider when sharing pictures while traveling. When we share pictures of our travels, we are sharing a lot of information, even if we don’t realize it. While sharing your travel experiences through social media is an enjoyable and important part of going abroad, sharing too much information about yourself, your trip, or your location can be a problem. This episode will give you a few things to think about before you share that next picture.

References and resources from the podcast are listed below:

• CISA.gov - "4 Things You Can Do To Keep Yourself Cyber Safe"
• Google - Changing your camera location settings page
• National Geographic - " When not to geotag while traveling"
• Air Force Academy - "Geotagging Safety"
• Mcafee - "Why You Should Think Before Geotagging that Selfie"
• USAToday - "How do I hide my location when sharing photos? Tips to secure privacy"
• 60 Minutes - "How Bellingcat trains journalists and investigators"
• Bellingcat - Geolocation page
• Vox - "What happens when nature goes viral?"

Transcript

Jeremy Rohrer: Welcome to the Badgers Abroad podcast. My name is Jeremy, and I'm the Assistant International Safety and Security Director at UW-Madison's International Division and the host of this podcast.

Today's episode will discuss geotagging, social media, and a few safety tips you should consider when sharing pictures while traveling.

There are lots of safety and security considerations we can discuss regarding social media when traveling, so there will certainly be more podcasts on the topic.

While sharing your travel experiences is an enjoyable and important part of going abroad, sharing too much information about yourself, your trip, or your location can be a problem.

Remember, not everyone looking at your posts may have good intentions. Sometimes sharing too much information on social media can put a traveler at significant risk.

When we share pictures of our travels, we share a lot of information, even if we don't realize it.

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical information, such as latitude and longitude, and other metadata, to media files like photos and videos.

This data provides the location where the media was captured, allowing the creator to share the location on social media platforms or for viewers to see where the content was created on a map.

For travelers, geotagging can be a fun and engaging way to share their adventures and connect with others who have visited similar locations. 

We all like to share our travels with our friends and family.

However, geotagging can also pose privacy and security risks if not done responsibly.

By being mindful and responsible in geotagging, travelers can find a good balance between sharing their adventures and maintaining their privacy and protecting their security.

It's essential to be aware of the potential risks and take steps to protect yourself while sharing your travel experiences. So here are a few tips. Since geotagging takes place on devices like computers, phones, and tablets, let's begin by talking about some good basic cybersecurity practices.

Before and during your trip, make sure your devices, including smartphones, laptops, and tablets, are up to date with the latest software and security patches.

Set strong, unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication wherever possible to add an extra layer of protection. The last thing you want on your trip is to get your social media accounts or devices hacked.

While it's tempting to connect to public Wi-Fi, beware of the risk. Cyber criminals often lurk on these networks, ready to intercept data.

Consider using virtual private networks, also known as VPNs. Using a VPN can help mask the location of your IP address and add another layer of privacy. It's important to note, though, that some countries may have laws or regulations regarding VPNs, so do your research before you travel.

Some cameras automatically embed location information in photos.

If you can, disable this feature in your device's camera settings to avoid inadvertently sharing too much location information. I'll include some guidance about this in the podcast notes.

Double-check the location settings on your social media profiles, your apps, and your devices. Make sure you understand how the location settings and geotagging work on them, and adjust them to make sure you're not sharing too much information. While you may need location services for some critical apps like maps and rideshare services, not every app needs to always track your location, especially when you're overseas. Some social media, like Snapchat, may constantly share your location, and that's something you want to avoid.

Devices may vary, but generally you can go to your device's settings and review app permissions to ensure the location access is turned off for social media apps or other apps you don't want to track you.

Regularly review and update your privacy settings on social media. It's best to keep your social media private, even if it's just for your trip. This way, you can share your travels with friends and family without giving up too much information to every user on the platform. You may also consider creating a separate social media account for your trip, especially if you'll be traveling for an extended period of time. This way, you won't reveal too much information about yourself or your life back home.

Think about what you're sharing in your pictures. A skilled person can take a lot of information from an innocent picture. Photos may contain street signs, storefronts, unique terrain, or other identifiable information that could be used to decipher your location. There is a prominent investigative journalism group called Bellingcat that uses open-source imagery to investigate things like conflicts around the world. I'll include a link to some of their articles so you can see just how much information can be taken from a basic picture.

It's generally best to err on the side of caution and avoid sharing specific location information. Consider removing geotags from photos altogether and avoid using specific information and descriptions or hashtags that could make your posts searchable or your location easily identifiable.

If you're going to share location information, use generic tags or descriptions and don't get too specific. This provides some context about your trip without giving away precise details. If you do tag a specific location or share other location, be cautious about what you're sharing and always try to wait to post until after you've left the specific location. For example, if you're in Paris and you want to tag the city, the Arrondissement, the Seine River, or even a highly prominent location like the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, that's probably fine. However, when posting about a specific location like a neighborhood or tourist site, always delay posting and tagging the image until after you've left.

With that in mind, never share a location where you will consistently be for multiple days during your trip, such as a hotel, dorm, office, or school building. People do not need to know exactly where you're staying, studying, or working. And if you're going to be at a spot more than once during your trip, it's best to consider that private information. Sharing these kinds of details can establish what is known as a pattern of life during your trip, and bad actors can use this kind of information to target you or the people you're traveling with.

Be cautious when accepting friend or follow requests from strangers, especially when you're posting while traveling. Some may have ulterior motives, so only connect with people you know. Don't announce any kind of absence during your trip, like if you're going on an excursion outside the city. Broadcasting that kind of information can make your residence a target for burglary.

In general, avoid geotagging or sharing details about private locations. Respect those around you, especially your traveling companions and hosts. Always ask if it's all right to share pictures that contain other people or settings that may be private. Be respectful of the local people, customs, and places. Some things may be sensitive, and you don't want to post something that could be viewed as offensive.

Educate your travel companions. If you're traveling with others, make sure they understand the risks of sharing too much information on social media. And make sure they understand your preferences about sharing things that could affect you. All it takes is one person to give up too much information to compromise the safety of the whole group.

So that's our discussion on geotagging, social media, and sharing location information when traveling. There's a lot more information about social media out there, and there's a lot more information about geotagging available. So I've included quite a few show notes in this episode for your reference. We'll also do more episodes on social media in the future since this is such a broad topic that affects most people when they're traveling.

Remember, preparedness starts with you. Take the necessary steps to ensure your safety and well-being and inspire those around you to do the same. Stay prepared, stay informed, stay empowered, and stay ready for whatever challenges may come your way. That concludes this episode. Thanks for listening. Until next time, stay safe out there.