I really think those tools should be banned, they're such an immense security problem.
I know those can be useful, and I understand that information should be free, but they can still do quite a good amount of harm.
Lesson: ALWAYS blur anything that could identify a street or anything when you post a picture online.
It’s a set of basic techniques to find where a photo was taken. I have a hard time envisioning an actual new issue here.
Obviously, people shouldn’t post pictures of things they don’t want other people to see or know (like where you live if you don’t want people to know that) but that was already true before people could easily mine Openstreet map data.
Those things could be used by robbers or any other kind of people who browse photos online.
Now, of course it depends on people handling their data straight, but since the internet is mostly used as a place where people share anything to the public, I still believe it's a bad combination of problems waiting to happen.
I think I’m lost here because what you are describing is exactly the meaning of mining openstreet map data. That’s the GIS database they use.
Legitimate users no longer have access to it, Bad actors continue to use the software on their own hardware anyways.
I think your point is valid to consider but it uncharitably overlooks the positives of the other side's proposition and reduces it down to all or nothing.