The purchase of anabolic steroids from domestic sources and the importation of anabolic steroids from internet pharmacies is illegal in the United States. This has not deterred bodybuilders from trying to obtain steroids over the internet. Buying steroids online is an acceptable legal risk for many individuals who feel the probability of success is relatively high. They usually take every precaution to avoid getting caught but they often overlook one very important detail…
Once they pick up the package from the post office or private mail box and return home to examine their goodies, they are elated that they have apparently avoided detection by customs and/or postal inspectors. They often lay out the recently obtained steroid stash for examination and usually snap a few photos with their smartphone so they can share their successful score with their online friends in various bodybuilding and steroid forums.
What they do not realize is that they may be literally advertising their physical location to everyone who sees these photographs including law enforcement. This happens in smartphones containing GPS chips that work along with built-in cameras automatically geo-tagging the photos. (A few standalone digital camera models from Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung also include a built-in GPS receiver.)
The geotag / geolocation information is embedded in the EXIF metadata providing location details of where you took the picture (of your illegally obtained steroids).
The iPhone is the most popular smartphone that automatically geotags photos taken with its built-in camera.
However, all smartphones with GPS chips do not necessarily geotag photos taken with the built-in camera and often geotagging can be disabled. For example, you can disable geotagging in the iPhone by turning off “location services”. Instructions to disable geotagging of photos for other smartphones can be found online.
Cellular phone providers will all include GPS chips in all cell phones by September 11, 2012 in order to comply with federal law.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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