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Please don't post a picture of yourself as an avatar.

If you want to see what is actually possible. Read this from a BBC News report

Link to the article. Link

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A Japanese man accused of stalking and sexually assaulting a young pop star told police he located her through the reflection in her eyes in a picture, according to local media reports.
The man said he had identified a train station reflected in the singer's eyes in a selfie she posted online.
The 26-year-old then waited at the station until he saw his victim and followed her to her home, police said.
The case has prompted debate about the threat of cyber-stalking.
The suspect, named by police as Hibiki Sato, is accused of following the woman home on the night of 1 September and molesting her.

Following his arrest later that month, he told police he was a big fan of the woman, who was described as a 21-year-old "Japanese idol" in local media reports.
The suspect told police that after zooming in on the image of her eyes, he used Google Street View to identify the station.
He also said he had studied videos the woman shot in her apartment, looking at details such as the placement of curtains and the direction of natural light coming through the window to try to determine exactly which floor she lived on, reports said.
The case raises questions about the risks unwittingly taken by social media users who post high definition pictures online documenting their lives.
"Higher quality images allow for more details to be identified that can help with geolocation, and the more reference imagery there is from services like Google Street View, the higher chance there is of finding a location," Eliot Higgins, the founder of investigations site Bellingcat, which has pioneered online investigative techniques, told the BBC.
"Even the tiniest details can reveal a lot of information about where a photograph is taken, and information about the individuals in the photograph," he said.
"Never post anything online you wouldn't want your boss, partner, or worst enemy to see. Even what seems like the most private setting online can be exposed, just ask Coleen Rooney."

Shuichiro Hoshi, a professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University and expert on the risks of social media, told the Tokyo Reporter that improved picture quality on smartphone cameras had increased the risk of private information "being leaked unexpectedly".

"In other words, the risk of a so-called 'digital stalker' is on the rise," he said.
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Yes its very very very.. very unlikely someone would go to those lengths. But it someone can find a person through a reflection in their eye... Be safe everyone
 
Ever heard of Nerds of 4Chan Geo locating the flag off the livestream by Shia LaBeouf?

They found it by the star constellations and airplanes in the sky visible from the camera.

It was a live stream though, not a photo or recorded video
 
On a similar note, I believe it best practice to _not send a photo, nor divulge identity-revealing details to those you may meet IRL. The personal safety thread covers the latter part but I don't recall it addressing sharing facial or revealing photos. I'd like to hear comments from others.

I was recently asked for a photo before a discussed meet and i declined. How do I know this person is for real and not trying to dox using the photo sent? Having a supposed photo of another is not sufficient evidence that the person is real, nor that you will get along even if they are.

My approach is to meet anonymously as per the safety thread. That includes not sharing a photo beforehand. If they are out to cause trouble, they have no photo of me that I had sent. If it turns out they are genuine, yet that may take a lot of time to discern, we individually get to decide if we want to pursue a friendship. If not, no harm done.

Thoughts anyone?
 
pferdefreund said:
nobody ever said thx when i did this.
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Its a victory if they dont tell you to go to hell....why do you expect thanks? I do this all the time and almost never get a response from the person Im warning....but I have often caught crap from those " omg, youre beautiful " posters on the profile.

If no one says thanks for the favor, thats the way the ball rolls. You do it because you care, not because they pat you on the back.
 
saddlebum66 said:
Its a victory if they dont tell you to go to hell....why do you expect thanks? I do this all the time and almost never get a response from the person Im warning....but I have often caught crap from those " omg, youre beautiful " posters on the profile.

If no one says thanks for the favor, thats the way the ball rolls. You do it because you care, not because they pat you on the back.
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I spoken to 4 or 5 people and gotten 2 thank yous, but as you say you don't do it for the praise. I do it because I want to help someone be safer. It should be up to each and every one of us to decide who or even if, we tell anyone we are a zoo. Not some third party who wants to cause problems for the "disgusting animal %*$#" they've track down.
 
Can't fix stupid. But, you can ruin it's life and social standing if it let's you.................................
 
FloofyNewfie said:
I have reached out to about 13 or 14 users so far who have posted a picture of themselves as their avatar. Some of whom claim to have animal partners. What is even more sad is that many of the women users that post these pictures tend to get posts on their wall about how beautiful and sexy they are, rather than letting them know of the danger they are putting themselves in.

By posting a picture of yourself on a public forum which anyone can access as long as you know the URL and are willing to spend 5 minutes to create a ProtonMail email, you are put your very security at risk. Take it from me, a zoophile who has been exposed before for a short period of time. I didn't even have an animal partner at the time. Being exposed is NOT FUN! A few users on here have had their lives turned upside down and ruined due to being exposed as a zoophile.

Normally, if I happen to catch a user with a picture that could be them. I go onto their profile and post to their wall a message similar to this:

"Hello! If that is an actual picture of yourself that you are using as an avatar, I would remove it and replace it with something else immediately. There are profile skimmers on here looking to find identifiable information to out zoos. You are putting yourself in danger."

Thankfully, the majority of users thank me and remove the image of themselves.

I would encourage everyone to do this. If you happen to see a user on here with a photo that is most likely a picture of themselves, I would reach out to them and let them know of the danger. A lot of times these users are new to the zoo community and are just starting out. They are unaware of the danger that they are potentially putting themselves in, because they don't know how hunted and despised we are to the general public.
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I have actually reported this to the moderators to ask the moderators to talk to them about it.
 
I suppose if someone tried hard enough, they could identify my pattern of freckles on my chest, though I don't know where they're going to get the source material to compare it to. :unsure: That said, the photo has only gotten me attention from other men, which I don't mind, but I'm also 100% not into. Maybe I should change it to something more generic. I'm not very active on here anyway.
 
Funny thing is I see zoo groups and tge like on fetlife and people have their faces on display in them. If you don't know when you view a profile in fetlife it tells you what groups they are in along with location. They aren't exactly being subtle.

It blows my mind.
 
Knottingley said:
Does this refer only to face/identifiable pictures?
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It's mostly very sound advice to not expose yourself in any manner, that would allow someone to identify and out you.

Imo you can post as many pictures as you like, you just have to realize, that there are people with way too much time and way too little real life who enjoy outing people to destroy their life or try to get something out of it.
As long as you feel safe with what you're posting, do whatever you want.
 
Knottingley said:
Does this refer only to face/identifiable pictures?
Click to expand...
Almost ANYTHING can serve to identify you under the right circumstances. A Tattoo, a particular piece of clothing, a place or item in the background thats personal property, a pet, even the pupils of your eyes can potentially give you up. This activity is illegal in almost any place you can name. Being called out on such behaviors can prevent being professionally licensed, or prevent renewal. Use your head, and think before you post
 
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FloofyNewfie said:
I have reached out to about 13 or 14 users so far who have posted a picture of themselves as their avatar. Some of whom claim to have animal partners. What is even more sad is that many of the women users that post these pictures tend to get posts on their wall about how beautiful and sexy they are, rather than letting them know of the danger they are putting themselves in.

By posting a picture of yourself on a public forum which anyone can access as long as you know the URL and are willing to spend 5 minutes to create a ProtonMail email, you are put your very security at risk. Take it from me, a zoophile who has been exposed before for a short period of time. I didn't even have an animal partner at the time. Being exposed is NOT FUN! A few users on here have had their lives turned upside down and ruined due to being exposed as a zoophile.

Normally, if I happen to catch a user with a picture that could be them. I go onto their profile and post to their wall a message similar to this:

"Hello! If that is an actual picture of yourself that you are using as an avatar, I would remove it and replace it with something else immediately. There are profile skimmers on here looking to find identifiable information to out zoos. You are putting yourself in danger."

Thankfully, the majority of users thank me and remove the image of themselves.

I would encourage everyone to do this. If you happen to see a user on here with a photo that is most likely a picture of themselves, I would reach out to them and let them know of the danger. A lot of times these users are new to the zoo community and are just starting out. They are unaware of the danger that they are potentially putting themselves in, because they don't know how hunted and despised we are to the general public.
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Very Good advice . I got recognized by a torso shot only by a local guy once because of that and a distinct ring I was wearing.
 
Still, there are many faces posted on this site. Some user like to rip off anything that shows something of an animal from social media. They post clips from dog shows, and private arrangements. While the people who made it see it as a memory of a good day with their akitas that they want to shre with friends, some "zoos" here just se a walking doggy asshole and post the whole clip with human faces, and everything. If the people posted here agains their will are U.S. or EU citizens, it can lead to some nasty legal issues, no matter if the zooville server may be locaed in a bamboo hut at a banana plantage on a small pacific island. I'm just saying it. The lawmen will not be knocking on my door when this starts to roll.
 
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