Deacon Johnson, a High Country West resident, believes it’s important to be in control when sharing photos and other information on the Internet – especially for young people. That concern, essentially, prompted the launch of his company, Pixelgarde Inc.
“Pixelgarde Photo Privacy Editor lets you decide what information you want to share with your photos,” said Johnson, who has 16 years experience working in technology, including with local startups Musicmatch (sold to Yahoo in 2004) and DivX, eventually also sold. “If you’re concerned about sharing personal data with your photos, then Pixelgarde is for you. (It) lets you view, edit or remove geotags, dates, titles and more.”
Based in 92127, Pixelgarde began in 2010 with just Johnson, supported by wife (JT), and two children (McKenzie and Asher). The application is now available for iPhone, iPad, Android and PC.
And just what was Johnson’s inspiration? “I had kids,” he said. “Yep, it’s a cliché, I know, but they fundamentally changed me and I see my world through the eyes of a parent now…it means I want a safer world for my kids, so I created Pixelgarde with a goal to achieve exactly that.”
As part of his effort to give back to the community, Johnson is providing the application at no charge to teachers in the Poway and San Diego unified school districts at http://pixelgarde.com/promo.php. “We hope teachers will use Pixelgarde Photo Privacy Editor and we thank you for educating our children,” he said. “They have an important job to do and it’s getting much harder. They deserve our support.”
The application is available to the public at the iPhone App Store, the Android Marketplace or at www.pixelgarde.com. It’s advertiser supported, so they can be used at no charge (advertising free versions also are available for a fee). For more information, Johnson can be reached directly at deacon@pixelgarde.com.
