Instagram & Geotagging

When you decide to start a blog you have to keep in mind about your privacy. What to share, what not to share. Since I have openly chosen to share photos of P and other things, on here and on my public Instagram account I like to think that is all I am doing. Sharing photos. However this morning I received an email from a reader (thank you Kelly!) who was so kind to tell me my geotagging notifications were on.

Geo what? So after a quick Google of geotagging I read this:

What is a geotag?

Geotagging is a technical term for storing the latitude and longitude of your current location with your photo. This data is collected by the GPS device in your phone or tablet and is accessible to Instagram if you grant permission.

If you'd like to turn this off, please consult your phone/tablet manufacturer’s instructions and settings.

Alright so wtf now how do I delete this feature? Step by step below on how to disable this feature on your photos:

First see the above screenshot, if your map location icon is grayed out like above you're all good. (Clearly I took these after I removed all the location services) If you have this service on you will be able to click that icon and it will take you to a map like this

I have since already deleted out all the tags at my home and near it but it was tagging me on my EXACT street. Which is so not okay! I have left photos taken in Hawaii and Florida to show you for instructional purposes. Once you have the map open click EDIT in the top right corner. Double tap your finger over a group of photos (tip: the less zoomed in you are the quicker you can delete these geotags)

Once you have double clicked all your photos taken at that location (with or without you physically tagging them) will pop up. Here are all our photos from our honeymoon and trips to Maui. Click DESELECT ALL.

Click CONFIRM. This will not delete your photos, only the geotag and the actual location tag if you had done it yourself.  

To ensure that you are no longer allowing your photos to be geotagged do the following (Sorry this is for an iPhone user but I am sure you can figure it out on other phones as well!)

Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services >

From here you can turn them off all together or you can go through your apps and select one of the following:

Never
While Using
Always

For Camera, Photos and Instagram I chose NEVER. Meaning I will no longer be able to tag certain locations on Instagram. I suppose if you still want to be able to tag some locations you can leave it on for Instagram but always have it off for photos.

So just a little eye opener on this Friday. Thank you again to Kelly for letting me know, mom to mom. Since my Instagram is public I really do appreciate the extra step to reach out to me telling me this was on. Since I had NO IDEA!

Happy Friday, be safe!!