LUCIUS D. CLAY KASERNE, Germany (Nov. 20, 2014) -- One of the foundations of effective force protection is to always keep the bad guys guessing. Letting them know where you are and what you're doing is never a good idea.
These days, with smart technology in nearly everyone's pockets and social interaction keeping the global information highways buzzing, guarding your actions can be tricky.
Geotagging and "location-based social networking" are two technological and social interaction challenges that specifically worry Army and U.S. Army Europe anti-terrorism experts.
Geotagging embeds geographic information into a photo or document's metadata that can be used to determine exactly where on Earth the photo was snapped or the document created. These location tools are often embedded in many of today's electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablets and personal computers. "Checking in" on Facebook is one example of a common application.
"By providing these bits of information when uploading geotagged photos or 'checking in,' we give our adversaries another piece of the puzzle to help them piece together the overall picture and give them the advantage," explained Jessica Bittle a force protection specialist for USAREUR's operations directorate (G3). "By limiting the available information, we try to remove that digital bulls-eye."
Experts in the social media division of the Army's Office of the Chief of Public Affairs call the metadata added to photos -- and videos, documents and text messages -- "the equivalent of adding a 10-digit grid coordinate to everything you post on the Internet."
The dangers, the experts say, are that these location-revealing functions allow potential bad guys to watch your movements and uncover patterns in your behavior; reveal the exact locations of places, such as your home or office, where you will be (or not be); and help enemies to determine potential targets and classified locations.
"We face an array of adversaries that take a vested interest in learning about individuals affiliated with our military in hopes of finding that vulnerable target," added Bittle.
The social media and security experts encourage people to disable this feature on their devices, or to review security settings so personal online information is not too informative.
Of equal concern to the security experts is location-based social networking, which has spawned a growing number of applications to satisfy users' desires to let people know where they are. Several social media sites even offer rewards or invite businesses or other organizations to offer incentives to users who "check in" at various locations. Others offer opportunities to hook up with old friends or meet and make new friends. Of course these applications can also tell bad guys where you are or will be.
USAREUR anti-terrorism officials add a reminder that users should never discuss military or government information while using social media sites.
To disable geotagging on most smart phones check the general settings and look for a "location" tab and select the appropriate settings. A quick internet search will turn up step-by-step instructions for disabling these features for specific sites and devices.
For more on the potential dangers of geotagging and location-based social networking, as well as information on a variety of force protection, information assurance and operational security topics, visit the U.S. Army Europe "vigilance" at www.eur.army.mil/vigilance.
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