Online drug dealers have been get sloppy , with some even inadvertently uploading the exact coordinates of their location when placing ads on the dark web . Though market place on the net ’s shadowy underside can only be accessed usingsoftware that renders substance abuser ’ IP addresses untraceable , some vender have been buck themselves in the foot by uploading geo - chase photos of their goods .
The blunder was spot by Harvard seniors Paul Lisker and Michael Rose , who , while conducting a project for a course of study on privateness and engineering , noticed that many dark web user do n’t cancel the small-arm of data called EXIF that accompanies photographs . EXIF can admit all form of details , such as the meter a photo was taken and the make and model of the television camera . These day , manysmartphoneswith build - in GPS trackers include ageo - tagin this datum , allow for the accurate localisation that a photograph was taken .
While you might carry tech - savvy dark web user to be knowing to this , Lisker and Rose find that some are not taking precautions to prevent this information from being shared . When analyzing 7,522,284images indark webadverts for drugs , they come upon 2,276 geo - tag photographs , coming from 229 unique localisation .
They then amass thisinteractive mapping , show where these boob seller are based . Although the location information contain within EXIF is super precise , Lisker and Rose have removed the decimals from the numbers so as to protect users ’ privateness , express their whereabouts to within a geographical mile or so .
Though most online drug dealers take precaution to protect themselves by delete EXIF data before uploading motion-picture show , it is also in the interest of the dark vane marketplaces themselves to ensure this data point does not get shared . One such market place , known as Agora , seems to have wisened up to this on March 18 , 2014 , after which engagement no more geo - tagged photos come out on the site , suggesting that the administrators deployed some sort of proficiency to remove this data from all pictures .
