Although most users do not know this, Windows 8 The device actually collects information about them while taking photos and videos. Here’s how to turn off image geotagging in Windows Phone 8 and why you might want to do it.
By default, Windows Phone’s camera app uses geotagging technology to automatically add the exact longitude and latitude of where pictures and videos were taken. This feature isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Online photo services can sort and showcase your photos by where they were taken, with the information, without you having to manually tell them. That’s a pretty good trade off for image sharing sites like Flickr.
On the other hand, if a user shares a photo taken at their home, the data can be used by malicious people. For example, if a user uploads a photo taken in their living room and announces that they are going on vacation, someone can use the information provided by geotagged images to find their home.
By default, this setting is turned on automatically on Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 7. It also automatically uploads photos taken with the device to SkyDrive. If the user shares these photos from SkyDrive, the location information in that image may reveal more information about the user’s location than they could ever want.
From the Windows Phone home screen, tap the app’s live tile to open the settings icon. In our screenshot, the settings are represented by the big gear icon in the lower right corner of our device.
Inside the settings to open the application settings.
Under app settings, scroll down until you see a settings entry for Tap to open.
You will see a checkbox that says under camera settings. On every Windows Phone, the option is in the fourth row from the top of the screen.
Without this option selected, your Windows Phone will not automatically add location information to your photos and videos.
From now on, location information will not be automatically added to any picture or video taken with your Windows Phone. Unfortunately, there’s no way to optionally add location information to photos, so disabling geotagging is an all-or-nothing option. Still, if security is important to you, it may be worth the compromise.
