GPS coordinates found embedded in police video and audio recordings

Imagine if you could analyze any police chase video or audio posted on ATS, YouTube, LiveLeak, or mainstream media and isolate embedded GPS coordinates to see if it really originated from the geographic location claimed.

At least in one case, someone just succeeded in doing this. I first saw it this morning on Gizmodo:

Watching cockpit footage of a police helicopter chase in Kansas City, Oona Räisänen noticed some odd interference in the audio. She assumed it was just being caused by the aircraft's engine, but after isolating and filtering the audio she discovered it was actually a digital signal.

And it wasn't just some random digital signal, either. It turns out the equipment used to transmit the live video feed to the ground also passes along the helicopter's GPS coordinates. And in a manner that anyone with access to the footage—like say the millions of people using YouTube every minute—and a little know-how can actually decode that data.

The Gizmodo article doesn't give a whole lot of details on how she isolated and got the actual GPS coordinates out of the audio/video data. You can find those missing details on Oona Räisänen's blog, absorptions. She gives the details on what she found and how she decoded it.

It's not clear if such GPS data is commonly embedded or it just happened that the particular equipment used in this case did it. Nor is it clear whether this is a standardized protocol that is the same across manufacturers if it is common.

But I figure there is probably someone on ATS with the expertise and curiosity to check this out further. If it is common, it might be very interesting to analyze such data from a number of past controversial events.

reply to post by ikonoklast


Guys, I just had a sickening thought. What if this tech is being used to embed GPS coordinates in more than just police footage. What if its happening every time you record some footage on your phone? Any chance someone who's more tech savvy than me can find out?

Meantime, I'll try not to cry at the possibilities.........FTNWO!!!

Ps Orwell definitely underestimated the misuse of technology by the PTB. Fkn gestapo. :

There are video cameras that embed GPS.

If you do a video of your pot garden in the hills and make a you tube down load the cops can raid your home take your computer and get the GPS Geotag of your pot farm.