So you can’t remotely delete the photos and you can’t destroy the camera. The next best thing is to use stolen camera finder. All you have to do is drag and drop one of the images you had taken with the camera previously onto the page and the site will show search results of other images that have been taken with the exact same camera. This service works by using Exif data embedded within your photo to search the web for photos taken with the same camera.

If you don’t have any photos handy that have been taken with the stolen camera, you can also type your camera’s ‘internal’ serial number if you have it (usually not the one on the box) into a search box to see who’s posting pictures with your camera. Exif is a standard used by digital cameras and other electronics and may also include your camera’s ‘internal’ serial number. This may be a long shot, and if your camera isn’t listed, this tool won’t work. It also won’t work searching on Facebook or MySpace because they scrape the Exif info from the photos according to the site.

(To see the actual data your current camera embeds within your photos, try Jeffrey’s Exif Viewer.)

See what can happen if you have an Eye-Fi card installed in your lost/stolen camera.

Start surfing by entering any URL into their web address box and click the ‘begin browsing’ button. You have the choice to remove all cookies, scripts, ads and referrer information. The site you visit will not know who you are and won’t be able to place cookies recording your visit. Visiting a site through a proxy service like this one will protect your privacy and prevent the site from collecting information about your visit. You are only sharing your information with proxy service.

The guide has 52 pages, and it makes clear, that even if you do everything in your power to control your information on Facebook, it’s simply not possible: for example, someone else can post and tag images with you in them and in the process tell others about your whereabouts.

Excerpt from the guide: If you want to upload contacts, “Facebook doesn’t make you enter your password. It will find contacts from whichever account you’re logged into, regardless of which email address you enter in to Facebook. Sneaky, huh?”

Let’s be realistic: the only way to not be tracked in any way online is to not go on online at all. Actually, you’d better leave your computer turned off, because many applications and programs on your computer automatically check for software updates and also track and record meta data.

Tor is free software and an open network that claims to help you defend against a form of network surveillance that “threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships. It prevents your traffic from being analyzed by distributing your transactions over several places on the internet, so no single point can link you to your destination.” One of the ways Tor works is by sending your e-mails through several relays, so it’s impossible to find out where the e-mail originated and where it was meant to end up. Maybe not every ISP uses traffic monitoring services – do you know if yours does? Even if you think it doesn’t, it’s a good idea to never search for your social security number and name, or passwords with any personal info.

More free security privacy resources…