I plan to go to an expedition to find an specific plant which was recently discovered that i know exists in a specific patch of grassland, This plant is endemic to my state, (Karnataka, India), and funnily seems to be endemic to the outskirts of my urban city. I always make my observation’s locatio…

This is the iNat help documentation on geoprivacy: https://help.inaturalist.org/en/support/solutions/articles/151000169938-what-is-geoprivacy-what-does-it-mean-for-an-observation-to-be-obscured- I think it probably answers most of your questions. Obscuration on iNat is fairly, but not perfectly, s…

Thank you, i think i will upload it! I just checked and i think an obscured location does hide preety well! though discussing how to defeat obscuration is not a good topic for the forum Haha, i wasnt trying to do that, i like to find organisms without people’s help, all by myself.

[image] cthawley: If you want to be 100% sure that a location is not accessible, it’s best to not post on iNat. yup. obscured locations are “secure” only until they aren’t.

I once saw an obscured observation which had been photographed on a beach. The box it had been “obscured” in was practically all sea, with one corner just touching the beach, pinpointing its position exactly. So after uploading obscured observations it’s a good idea to check and make sure that nothi…

You can’t use obscured locations to share locations with researchers. You are better off contacting those researchers specifically, or responding to their request for info if they do contact you.

I don’t think this is really correct. Users can choose to trust other users or a project, see: https://help.inaturalist.org/en/support/solutions/articles/151000169938-what-is-geoprivacy-what-does-it-mean-for-an-observation-to-be-obscured- For taxon geoprivacy (which is not what OP talked about), …

In that instance, you are still giving the location to someone and so “overcoming” the obscuring attribute on the observation. The only difference with a project, and similarly with the “share hidden coordinates” setting (Account Settings->Relationships), is that you can do this automatically, but …

How safe are "Obscured" Observations

General

Topic		Replies	Views
Best way to obscure General web , question , projects	16	3314	April 5, 2023
Geoprivacy: open vs. obscured General question , geoprivacy	14	359	December 27, 2025
How to decide which observations to obscure General	30	1313	October 21, 2024
Public or obscured location? General	24	959	November 24, 2024
How to access true coordinates of obscured locations General	13	652	January 13, 2026

How safe are "Obscured" Observations

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