EXIF DATA

[pumpingiron22]

EXIF DATA

when talking about metadata, that when it comes to photos, there is another risk involved called EXIF data, this is another form of meta data specifically related to images and may not be properly removed by Metadata Anonymisation Toolkit mentioned before.

EXIF data stands for Exchangeable image file format and affects JPG, JPEF, TIF and WAV files. A photo taken with a GPS-enabled camera can reveal the exact location and time it was taken, and the unique ID number of the device - this is all done by default - often without the user's knowledge.

In December 2012, anti-virus programmer John McAfee was arrested in Guatemala while fleeing from alleged persecution in Belize, which shares a border. Vice magazine had published an exclusive interview with McAfee "on the run" that included a photo of McAfee with a Vice reporter taken with a phone that had geotagged the image. The photo's metadata included GPS coordinates locating McAfee in Guatemala, and he was captured two days later.

To avoid this, only take photos that use PNG because it does not store EXIF data. To check if your photo has any revealing EXIF data attached to it, check out this site.

View Exif Data

or you can download a tool by doing a quick search online to see what EXIF data may be contained in your photos before you upload them. Be very careful with any files that you upload online, because you never know what type of harmful data could be attached in them. It helps to use Tails, but always consider everything you put online as a potential piece of evidence to be used against you and always prepare for the day the feds come to your door.

 

[Gramps]

As a start, with an iPhone you want to go to settings-privacy-location services and make sure any cameras listed are turned off.

 

[MindlessWork]

Or you can use MSPaint on a Windows computer if you have any images that are saved to your computer in jpeg format. Open the image in MSPaint then resave to a generic filename.

Also double check if there are any objects that can be identified as landmarks such as street names, license plates or names/logos of businesses. Crop or use the paintbrush tool to cover them up.

Another tip: put random marks in images so they can't be readily identified through reverse image searches.

Even more importantly, do not use images already posted to social media such as Facebook.

 

[Gramps]

Another tip: put random marks in images so they can't be readily identified through reverse image searches.

Is that for using previously posted pics (which is a bad idea as you already posted), or is there something about reverse image searching I don't know about which is likely as I never looked into it?

 

[MindlessWork]

Is that for using previously posted pics (which is a bad idea as you already posted), or is there something about reverse image searching I don't know about which is likely as I never looked into it?

Yes it can.

 

[Winnie the Pooh]

Exif data, while a danger, is most certainly NOT the only thing you have to worry about. Every digital camera made has, at its' heart, a sensor which serves the same purpose as film did in the pre-digital age. What almost no one knows, is that every sensor has flaws, or imperfections, essentially making each sensor unique. No two sensors will have the same flaws.

What is of interest here, is that these flaws also are reflected in the photos that you take. While these flaws are invisible, software has been developed to ferret out these flaws and, in effect, fingerprint each camera using the sensor flaws. This CANNOT be corrected by editing the photos, or by any other known means.

Companies have now sprung up to take advantage of this. One firm advertises that, given a particular camera, they will determine its' fingerprint, and they state that they can scour online photo sites like Facebook, Flickr, etc. and find all posted photos that were taken by a particular camera. Needless to say, the Feds were first in line to do business with these companies.

Govern yourselves accordingly.

 

[MindlessWork]

Exif data, while a danger, is most certainly NOT the only thing you have to worry about. Every digital camera made has, at its' heart, a sensor which serves the same purpose as film did in the pre-digital age. What almost no one knows, is that every sensor has flaws, or imperfections, essentially making each sensor unique. No two sensors will have the same flaws.

What is of interest here, is that these flaws also are reflected in the photos that you take. While these flaws are invisible, software has been developed to ferret out these flaws and, in effect, fingerprint each camera using the sensor flaws. This CANNOT be corrected by editing the photos, or by any other known means.

Companies have now sprung up to take advantage of this. One firm advertises that, given a particular camera, they will determine its' fingerprint, and they state that they can scour online photo sites like Facebook, Flickr, etc. and find all posted photos that were taken by a particular camera. Needless to say, the Feds were first in line to do business with these companies.

Govern yourselves accordingly.

Wow that's something new to me and perhaps we should go back to film cameras?

 

[Winnie the Pooh]

Wow that's something new to me and perhaps we should go back to film cameras?

That's not going to solve the issue -- you still have to scan photos to get them into a digital format, if you wish to use them online, which means you've got to use a scanner, which means we're right back to the sensor issue again.

 

[MindlessWork]

That's not going to solve the issue -- you still have to scan photos to get them into a digital format, if you wish to use them online, which means you've got to use a scanner, which means we're right back to the sensor issue again.

Wonder if there's a fingerprint for my very old film scanner that I use to digitize my negatives and slides that I have taken over the years as photography is my hobby.

 

[Winnie the Pooh]

Wonder if there's a fingerprint for my very old film scanner.

If it has an image sensor, it will have flaws.

Perhaps the best way to go would be to purchase an older model digital camera for cash, say at a fleamarket. You could use this camera for stuff you don't want traced, and use your regular camera for everything else. This way, the camera can't be traced back to you, and as long as you have the camera stashed away, so it won't be found during a search, that should take care of the problem.

 

[hungry ectomorph]

Exif data, while a danger, is most certainly NOT the only thing you have to worry about. Every digital camera made has, at its' heart, a sensor which serves the same purpose as film did in the pre-digital age. What almost no one knows, is that every sensor has flaws, or imperfections, essentially making each sensor unique. No two sensors will have the same flaws.

What is of interest here, is that these flaws also are reflected in the photos that you take. While these flaws are invisible, software has been developed to ferret out these flaws and, in effect, fingerprint each camera using the sensor flaws. This CANNOT be corrected by editing the photos, or by any other known means.

Companies have now sprung up to take advantage of this. One firm advertises that, given a particular camera, they will determine its' fingerprint, and they state that they can scour online photo sites like Facebook, Flickr, etc. and find all posted photos that were taken by a particular camera. Needless to say, the Feds were first in line to do business with these companies.

Govern yourselves accordingly.

Mind= blown

Solid post

 

[pumpingiron22]

If it has an image sensor, it will have flaws.

Perhaps the best way to go would be to purchase an older model digital camera for cash, say at a fleamarket. You could use this camera for stuff you don't want traced, and use your regular camera for everything else. This way, the camera can't be traced back to you, and as long as you have the camera stashed away, so it won't be found during a search, that should take care of the problem.

Its been this way for along time with the right tools and keeping of gps. all thing can be deleted

 

[MindlessWork]

If it has an image sensor, it will have flaws.

Perhaps the best way to go would be to purchase an older model digital camera for cash, say at a fleamarket. You could use this camera for stuff you don't want traced, and use your regular camera for everything else. This way, the camera can't be traced back to you, and as long as you have the camera stashed away, so it won't be found during a search, that should take care of the problem.

Even smartphone cameras will have this problem too, and the only way you can verify is if you have the physical camera or smartphone to test and compare with other images made with the device in question. Sensor flaws are much harder to correlate with a device than EXIF, however so that is why LE would need to find the smartphone or camera used to take the images.