open source hardware.

i was reading the "200 things you can do with linux" article in the 200th issue celebration collectors edition of linux journal, when i came to #51, "Delete all the GPS location data from images." and i hit upon the idea of doing a search...

the GPS data on cameras has been an issue that's troubled me for some time, in full tinfoil hat mode, i just stopped taking pictures with my phone, knowing what an epic security hole it is, an invasion of privacy and empowers corporations and government agencies with far more knowledge about me and power over me than they deserve.

what was the idea for what i was going to search?
two searches really, open source hardware, and more to the point, open source cameras.

but surely, if i've just read that u can remove this data with linux, why bother finding greater recourse and remedy for avoiding it? quite simply, prevention is better than cure.

and what did i find?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_hardware
&
http://www.opensourcecamera.org/
- and the link there-in. http://www3.elphel.com/

i wouldnt mind the GPS data going along with images if it was more public-interest oriented, rather than spy-agency oriented. I even rather like the idea, if it were more forthcoming, noticeably present in the interface, with notification of its presence, and the ability to turn it off. or even make it opt-in, instead of opt-out (which to my knowledge, isnt even an option on most phones/cameras, at least not without a convoluted removal process).

it's like kenedy said, "fully informed public". that's all this is really about.

democracy fails without this. when how something is made is a proprietary secret, it diminishes the power of the people. when it's normal use constitutes secondary secret uses not for the benefit of the user, it diminishes the power of the people. i love the idea of open-source hardware giving back that power. it's like it defeats the dark side of occulted & horded knowledge simply with the light of the freedom of knowledge. :) and we all benefit, even those who were in the dark, from lighting each other's candles. :)