Is there a way to preview before actually posting the observation what location information (size/position of the rectangle/marker) will be shown for my own observation, for which I want to obscure or hide the location?
Not that I’m aware of, but you could save an empty observation and add the photo and ID afterwards.
Thank you for the suggestion. But what location would it show then?
When you’re logged into your account, you’ll always see the true location on the individual observation page.
But if you log out or open a private browsing window, it’ll show you what other people will see:
More on geoprivacy here: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/help#geoprivacy
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The size of the rectangle is always going to be the same, it is built off of a 0.2 degrees randomization off the actual location which works out to about 22 kilometers of latitude and between 0 and 22 kilometers of longitude depending on how far away from the equator you are.
I normally make my observations public, but I do have a few I would like to share, but want to keep the exact location obscured. I would like to be able to control or at least see where the rectangle will be placed, so that it does not reveal the location (for example if it only contains a tiny bit of suitable or accessible habitat).
For example, imagine I want to post an observation of an animal found dead on road and the rectangle only contains a small portion of a single road, which would reveal the true location. Therefore, I would like to make sure, before posting my observation, that the rectangle contains several roads.
Thank you, I understand. I would like to be able to control or at least see what part of terrain the rectangle will encompass, to make sure it does not reveal the true location, for example if the rectangle only contains a tiny bit of suitable or accessible habitat.
Maybe your best bet is to manually make a large-enough uncertainty circle around your location’s center point, and then don’t put the center point on the exact location. But this has its downside also, because the location will be off even when you are the one looking at it.
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I’m not sure putting in knowingly false locations is really that solid of a strategy. If you are that concerned about the location, then set it as private, and deny projects the right to access the real location of your sightings.
Thank you for the suggestion. I would like to record the true location, just without making it public for some observations.
I wish I could set the location to a county or something like that.
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