This essay was posted to the online newspaper The Start on February 27, 2015.

1

U.S. Congressman Aaron Schock’s reputation took a hit this week when the Associated Press used geo-location data from his Instagram account to show how he was flying on private jets provided by campaign donors, expensed massages, and bought Katy Perry tickets for his interns.

2

The reporters involved explained that “the AP extracted location data associated with each image, then correlated it with flight records showing airport stopovers and expenses later billed for air travel against Schock’s office and campaign records.”

3

To track somebody on Instagram the way AP did for the Schock story isn’t difficult. There is a program called Creepy that will create a Google map showing where you’ve been, based on what you’ve shared on Instagram, Twitter, and Flickr.

4

I ran Creepy on my own Instagram account and found it wouldn’t be hard for a stranger to figure out where I live in the Annex.

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5

This is the map the program made about my account, and with a bit of deductive logic it’s clear I live just north of Bloor and Spadina.

6

The photos taken around Front St. are all interiors of offices, because that’s where I’ve worked for the past two and a half years. The photos taken along major streets such as King and Bloor portray me hanging out with friends.

7

Then there is the funny collection of dots north of Bloor in the Annex that link to Instagram photos of an apartment’s interior.

8

You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to guess that’s my home.

9

It’s true that 20 years ago, a phonebook might have led a stranger to my home address. But I would at least know that I had a listed number. The trouble with Instagram tracking is that most users have no idea their photo-sharing app is also building a detailed history of where they work and live.

10

If Aaron Schock, a congressman with paid communications people, couldn’t figure this out, then it’s likely most members of the public have no idea this is going on.