javihammer
Active Member
- Messages
- 135
Does anyone know if the companies that host the cell based trail cameras offer camera images or metadata (gps info/date/time) for sale? I read the terms of service for a couple of the big ones and it wasn't clear if ownership of the images was completely on the side of the camera owner or if there is co-ownership of the data by the hosting companies.
If so it would seem that there would be some risk that the data could be purchased in blocks (possibly by gps coordinate range) and sold to big outfitters. The metadata alone would be valuable in and of itself. It would certainly be cheaper to buy someone else's data/pics than hump cameras into the boonies youself, especially in places like the Arizona Strip where there are tons of cameras already.
With social media sites claiming more ownership of user content for marketing and resale this type of scenario would seem somewhat plausible. It would be pretty lame to be camera mule for secondary market trail cam data and not even know it. Seems like the hosting companies should explicitly state that no images/data are sold to third parties, even images associated with closed accounts. Trail camera data is valuable and electronic storage has become pretty inexpensive. Seems like a recipe for antler espionage to me.
If so it would seem that there would be some risk that the data could be purchased in blocks (possibly by gps coordinate range) and sold to big outfitters. The metadata alone would be valuable in and of itself. It would certainly be cheaper to buy someone else's data/pics than hump cameras into the boonies youself, especially in places like the Arizona Strip where there are tons of cameras already.
With social media sites claiming more ownership of user content for marketing and resale this type of scenario would seem somewhat plausible. It would be pretty lame to be camera mule for secondary market trail cam data and not even know it. Seems like the hosting companies should explicitly state that no images/data are sold to third parties, even images associated with closed accounts. Trail camera data is valuable and electronic storage has become pretty inexpensive. Seems like a recipe for antler espionage to me.
