Usage of geo-tagging information from media files to determine gaps in location information for mobile devices

At least one non-transitory computer readable medium for using geo-tags embedded in user created media files to update a location history record for a mobile computing device, the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium storing program code that, when loaded into computer memory and executed by a processor performs the following steps:

• identifying at least one gap in the location history record for the mobile computing device;
• scanning the mobile computing device to identify accessible media files in at least one specific format created during the gap, wherein the gap further comprises a period of time during which location services data were not being made available to the location history record, wherein location services data further comprise data provided by Global Positioning System or by wireless triangulation;
• scanning identified media files created during the gap for embedded geo-tags;
• updating the location history record for the mobile computing device with at least one data point comprising a location of the mobile computing device as identified by a geo-tag embedded in a specific identified media file and a time of creation of the specific identified media file;
• and
• using the updated media location history for the mobile computing device in order to determine where the mobile computing device was located during a period of time from when it went missing to when it was recovered.

A mobile computing device for using geo-tags embedded in user created media files to update a location history, the mobile computing device comprising:

• a processor;
• computer memory;
• a gap identifying module residing in the computer memory, configured to identify at least one gap in the location history record for the mobile computing device;
• a media file scanning module residing in the computer memory, configured 1) to scan the mobile computing device to identify accessible media files in at least one specific format created during the gap, wherein the gap further comprises a period of time during which location services data were not being made available to the location history record, wherein location services data further comprise data provided by Global Positioning System or by wireless triangulation, and 2) to scan identified media files created during the gap for embedded geo-tags;
• a location history updating module residing in the computer memory, configured to update the location history record for the mobile computing device with at least one data point comprising a location of the mobile computing device as identified by a geo-tag embedded in a specific identified media file and a time of creation of the specific identified media file;
• and
• a location tracking manager residing in the computer memory, configured to use the updated media location history for the mobile computing device in order to determine where the mobile computing device was located during a period of time from when it went missing to when it was recovered.