Your Digital Footprint Reveals More Than You Think

Jan 21, 2026

In this engaging discussion, Jose Monkey, a savvy geolocation expert and content creator, reveals how easily he can pinpoint a person's location using subtle online clues. He provides fascinating insights into personal operational security and practical tips to safeguard your digital footprint. Eva Galperin, cybersecurity director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, explains threat modeling and the importance of protecting online privacy against various risks including scams and harassment. Together, they emphasize the importance of digital hygiene in a world where oversharing can lead to real-world consequences.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Host Gets Found Despite Cautions

Morgan Sung thought she had stumped Jose Monkey by removing metadata and cropping a night video in East Los Angeles.
Two weeks later Jose sent Google Maps coordinates showing her exact parking spot on Eagle Rock Boulevard.

INSIGHT

Tiny Visual Clues Narrow Searches

Small background details like utility poles and medians narrow down possible locations dramatically.
Jose Monkey spent multiple hours correlating subtle visual clues to limit search areas.

ADVICE

Always Review And Edit Before Posting

Review every photo or video before posting and use in-app trimming or stickers to obscure revealing background details.
Rerecord or remove any clip that shows street signs, license plates, or clear landmarks.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

How easy is it to find someone from a single video posted online? To find out, Morgan put her own privacy to the test. She asked TikTok creator JoseMonkey, who’s famous for geolocating people who send him videos asking to be found, to track her down. JoseMonkey started as a geolocation hobbyist who turned to creating videos to bring attention to common mistakes people make when posting online.

In this episode, Morgan breaks down why personal operational security matters and what digital hygiene actually looks like in practice. JoseMonkey walks through how he finds people using the smallest scraps of information, and the steps you can take to make sure you aren’t exposing too much in your posts. And Eva Galperin, cybersecurity director of Electronic Frontier Foundation, explains how to use a process called “threat modeling” to protect your online privacy in a way that’s practical rather than paranoid.

Guests:

Jose Monkey, content creator and online privacy advocate

Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Further Reading/Listening:

We partnered with KQED’s audience news team on a companion guide that breaks down online privacy in a clear, shareable format. You can find it, along with other explainers and guides, on KQED’s explainers page.

⁠Have LLMs Finally Mastered Geolocation? — Foeke Postma and Nathan Patin, Bellingcat
Surveillance Self-Defense — The Electronic Frontier Foundation

How micro-online posting can be a macro privacy risk — JoseMonkey, TedX Talks

Read the transcript ⁠here⁠

Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at ⁠CloseAllTabs@KQED.org⁠

Credits:

Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices