Warning: Smart phone images use GPS trackers to mark your location

Susanne McDonald is like any parent. She loves to take pictures of her four year old daughter, Laine, with her smart phone.

But taking pictures and placing them on a website could be dangerous. On Twitter, Facebook, Craigslist and Photobucket, you can find pictures of children, and these images give away the locations of the children in them. 

"That is terrifying," said McDonald.

Surfing the web revealed a lot about Laine including where she lives and which room in the house is her bedroom. There was information about where Laine's day care is located, her favorite place to eat, and the park where she plays. 

We went to Jeremy Jacob, an instructor at Florida Atlantic University for some answers. Jacob teaches the iPhone Development course at the university.

"Most smart phones nowadays have GPS trackers along with high definition cameras built into them and by default the GPS tracking devices are turned on and they usually ask you if you want to allow them to use the coordinates when taking a picture," said Jacob.

So what can you do to protect your family? Jacob says there's a quick solution.

"I would suggest if you don't want your GPS coordinates known through your pictures to go into the settings in your iPhone and then turn that setting off," said Jacob.

Jacob says it's important to be aware of when your GPS system is on.

"The problem is once it asks you that first time that you want those coordinates, and you say yes, it will then continue to use your coordinates as you are taking pictures. It won't ask you every single time, so you may turn it on and not realize two days later that it is still taking your coordinates every time you snap a picture," said Jacob.