GeoSpy: AI Tool Raises Privacy Concerns with Photo Geolocation Capabilities

A Concerning New AI Service Can Track Where a Photo Was Taken

Summary GeoSpy uses AI to determine where images were taken, impacting privacy online. Originally available to the public, now restricted to governments and law enforcement. AI advancements pose a significant doxxing threat, prompting caution with online photo sharing. Privacy is always an issue on the internet, and we all have to be mindful of what we post, but AI technologies are beginning to challenge what's possible when it comes to uncovering details that are not explicitly shared, using seemingly innocent data. Which is why GeoSpy is definitely worth taking notice of. GeoSpy Is Like the Deep Blue of GeoGuessr GeoGuessr is a game where players try to guess where a Google Street View photo is from, just by what can be seen in the image. You need a sharp mind and heaps of knowledge to know that a photo was taken in a specific country, city, or street just based on the buildings, plants, and other subtle clues. GeoSpy is to GeoGuessr players what IBM's Deep Blue was to human Chess players. It can look at any image, and then determine where it was likely taken based on minute and often esoteric details in the image. It's Meant for Governments and Law Enforcement As of this writing, GeoSpy is only available to law enforcement and enterprise customers who have a legitimate and legal use for the technology. For example, police may receive video or photos of a hostage from kidnappers, and GeoSpy could narrow down where in the world the photo was taken. GeoSpy even has military applications, where photos of enemy troops or vehicles can reveal their position at the time the image was taken using GeoSpy. There's also a trove of historical images that are part of cold cases or otherwise unsolved mysteries that an AI tool like GeoSpy could help solve. You don't have to stretch your imagination too much to know why governments and other large organizations would love to have a tool like that can, as far as I can see, reliably tell you where a photo was taken because of how the grass looks, or the street layout. But, the Public Had Access for a While GeoSpy hasn't been in the public eye much, but it came to my attention after 404 Media published a report (requires free signup) following its own investigation into this software. It makes for sobering reading, as the journalists could sign up for a publicly-available demo of GeoSpy and use it for purposes like stalking. GeoSpy has since shut down public access to the software, but 404 Media reports that some members of the public had been using the technology for less than savory uses up to that point. The Threat of Doxxing Is Greater Than Ever Thanks to AI I recommend reading 404's entire article to get a good sense of the implications and where GeoSpy is heading in the future, but for me, the most important takeaway is that we are entering a truly wild period for privacy on the internet and the threat of doxxing. Even before the more recent AI and machine learning boom, advanced algorithms were able to infer information about you based on circumstantial things. The purpose of this was to throw targeted advertising at you, but it was still a process of getting information you didn't share from info you did share. With big-brain AI models becoming capable of savant-like inferences, it means that practically anything you share online can reveal things about you. The worst part is there's no way for you to truly anonymize, for example, a photo of you on holiday. A tool like this would already make it possible to figure out more or less where a public figure lives. or just a regular person like you or me. While social media platforms automatically strip location metadata from any images you upload, I think we'll all have to think twice before uploading a photo now. Ask yourself if you're willing to let people know where a photo was taken, and if the answer to that question is "no," it's probably better to just leave it on your hard drive.

GeoSpy is an AI Tool That Can Geolocate Photos in Seconds

This AI tool, which was trained on millions of images, can find the location of a photo in seconds. A recent report by 404 Media highlighted the emergence of GeoSpy, an advanced AI tool developed by Boston-based Graylark Technologies. GeoSpy is capable of accurately determining the location of photographs by analyzing elements such as vegetation, architecture, spatial relationships, the type of road surface, and other small details in an image. The system, which was previously trained with millions of photos from all over the world, can determine a location relatively precisely down to which city or area a photo was taken. Although it usually does not go as far as the street or house number, it can bring down the search area to a few square miles. GeoSpy makes it remarkably simple for anyone to identify the location of a photo, eliminating the need for specialized skills or training. Traditionally, open-source intelligence (OSINT) experts spend years honing their ability to accurately analyze images, but this tool allows even novices to achieve similar results with ease and speed. Even someone with little understanding of technology can potentially track down a person based on photos shared online. Social media platforms may remove metadata, such as GPS coordinates and other location details, from uploaded pictures, but GeoSpy doesn't rely on that data to identify a location. Graylark Technologies, the company behind GeoSpy, says it developed the AI tool for government agencies and law enforcement officers. However, initially, for several months, GeoSpy was available to anyone who wanted to try it. According to 404 Media, people began sharing videos online showing just how powerful GeoSpy was -- spotting the location of a photo within seconds. The news outlet reports that this is when some people reportedly started asking GeoSpy for help with stalking women. 404 Media reports that Graylark Technologies aggressively pushed back against such requests, and GeoSpy closed off public access to the tool after the news outlet contacted him for comment. Nonetheless, 404 Media believes that "GeoSpy could radically change what information can be learned from photos posted online, and by whom." For example, law enforcement and investigators could use GeoSpy to locate missing people or gather evidence in criminal cases. Until now, this kind of work often required years of experience in analyzing photos, but GeoSpy makes it possible for even beginners to get results in minutes. However, the launch of this tool emphasizes the urgent need to address ethical concerns and implement strong safeguards around this technology.