An invitation for stalkers? New web app uses Google Street View to show exactly where Instagram pictures were taken

Shows how much personal information we reveal when using such services

App harvests location data and links it to Google Street View

Users enter keywords into search and are presented with stream of images

A new web app which shows a Google Street View of locations where photos uploaded to Instagram have been taken has been dubbed a 'stalker's wet dream'.

The app, put together by students at Rutgers University in New Jersey, harvests data from Instagram to tie together photos' location metadata to their physical location.

It allows users to search images by keyword then shows a constant stream of pictures from the cult photo-sharing service - revealing exactly where and when they were taken.

Published online for all to see: A new web app called The Beat harvests data from Instagram then links the location that photos were taken to images from Google Street View

Risque: The app, put together by researchers from Rutgers University, New Jersey, highlights just how much personal information we are revealing online, privacy campaigners say

Described by Gizmodo as a 'stalker's wet dream', privacy campaigners have said the app highlights just how much personal information we make available online when we upload our photos.

Rutgers' social media information lab put together the website, entitled ' The Beat ', using data from Instagram's application programming interface (API).

This stream of source code, common to many web services, allows third-party developers to use information from the site to put together their own related online apps.

On The Beat, users can filter photos from Instagram by entering a related hashtag into a search bar. It then displays photos tagged with the search term with images of the address where they were taken.

Out of respect for privacy, there appears to be a blacklist for certain search terms, like 'underwear', 'porn' and 'sex' which could reveal risque or explicit photos.

However, other related terms, like 'bikini', are not blocked.

'Stalker's wet dream': The app harvests the locations from uploaded photos' GPS metadata, then matches it up with a street view of the location where the picture was taken

Party time: This photo from the UK shows off the remains of a New Year's Eve party near Dewsbury

The application highlights how photos uploaded to Instagram become publicly available to users worldwide when they are published.

It also shows how users are revealing far more data than they expect when they use the service.

Nick Pickles, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: 'People might be happy sharing photos of what they’re doing, but how many people would want where they are doing it to be public?

'Location data is one of the most sensitive pieces of data and yet countless apps are using it without most people knowing.

'It’s one of the most valuable pieces of data to advertisers who can target you on and off-line as a result, so it’s hardly surprising companies like Google and Facebook are looking for as many ways as possible to track where you are.