Big Brother Is Watching Your Cat
Things cats love: boxes, sunshine and destroying your privacy online. In an effort to raise awareness as to just how much information we’re giving away on the internet, Florida State University professor Owen Mundy put together IKnowWhereYourCatLives.com.
Mundy told THV11 that he was inspired to create the website after taking a photo of his daughter and posting it online. He realized just how much geographical information we were making available on social media sites, and thus IKnowWhereYourCatLives.com was born.
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The site tracks over 7 million cats, found by simply following the hashtag cats and then entering the geographical information many owners didn’t realize they were sharing. Mundy wants people to be more careful with the information they’re giving away to third party developers: “At the core we’re talking about freedom movement and freedom of speech. Even if you don’t have anything to hide.”
And it seems to be working, after posting around one million photos at the launch of the site, around 60% of the original posts have been taken down. Instagram has also gotten more strict about the information it will share with developers. But that doesn’t mean we’re all in the clear: “I think it’s an ongoing problem and the next app that comes out you’ll have to watch it in the same way,” Mundy says.
h/t People
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