Geoprivacy
Did you know?
iNaturalist collects location data from users when observations are created and uploaded to the app. Location data is used in the categorization and identification organisms. For personal privacy protection, users also have the ability to manage geoprivacy settings for each observation.
3 GeoPrivacy Settings
Open
Coordinates visible to other users. Good for public spaces.
Obscured
Public coordinates are shown as a random point within a 0.2 by 0.2 degree area that contains the true coordinates. The area forms a quadrilateral with exact dimensions dependent on the geographic location.
Private
Coordinates are completely hidden from public maps. Good for private property, BUT it means that the observation can be from anywhere on planet earth.
To change...
*Geoprivacy settings can be changed before or after an observation has been added. It needs to be set for each observation individually.
From your phone/new observations
Open the iNaturalist app on your device
Tap “Location visibility”
Select “Obscured” or “Private”
Tap the green check mark at the bottom of the screen
From your computer/editing existing observations
Log in to your iNaturalist account
Click your observations
Select an observation
Click "edit"
From the edit screen, click on the change geoprivacy caret
Change to “Obscured” or “Private” in drop down menu
For more detailed instructions on how to change iNaturalist geoprivacy settings, download this presentation prepared by Minnesota Sea Grant or read the iNaturalist geoprivacy settings help page.
Other Precautions
Create a shared classroom iNaturalist account without including any personal information
Only observe in public locations
Non-digital nature journals