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Mining EXIF Data From Camera Phones
emeitner notes that folks at the Internet Storm Center wrote scripts that harvested 15,291 images from Twitpic and analyzed the EXIF information. This reader adds, "While mining EXIF data from images is nothing new, how many people would allow this data to leave their cell phone if they knew what it contained? The source code for the scripts is also available from the article." "399 images included the location of the camera at the time the image was taken, and 102 images included the name of the photographer. ... The iPhone is including the most EXIF information among the images we found. ... It not only includes the phone's location, but also accelerometer data showing if the phone was moved at the time the picture was taken and the readout from the [built-]in compass showing in which direction the phone was pointed at the time."
Someday soon a politician will post what appears to be a benign photo with an embarrassing long/lat location.
Maybe I need another layer on my tinfoil hat, but after reading the summary (and only the summary, obviously) all I can say is, "So what?"
After all, it's not like the pictures somehow snuck onto the interwebs without the users knowledge, the photographs actively put them there. Beyond that, I really don't care if someone knows my name, and where I was standing when I took a picture. In fact knowing where pictures were taken can lead to some really cool mashups of tourist photos and such.
Wake me when exif data routinely contains my passwords, social security number, and credit card number.
Sheldon
I can't be bothered to set the clock on my camera, let alone enter personal data.
Not a problem on CELL PHONE cameras!
If my phone *didn't* tag my photos with my name I'd be a bit miffed :)
Generally yes. Unless you want to anonymously submit a photo, and you had no idea this information was stored inside the picture.
x86, oh yes, I'm pro.
It not only includes the phone's location, but also accelerometer data showing if the phone was moved at the time the picture was taken and the readout from the [built-]in compass showing in which direction the phone was pointed at the time.
Not only that, the file exposes an image from the phone's camera. Won't someone think of the children!
Facebook is the new AOL
I suppose some people could think it was "magic", since embedded data in an image isn't something that is immediately obvious to a normal user.
Try saying "metadata" to the average computer user. It's like watching a BSOD on someone's face; And that's exactly the problem here -- devices shipping with privacy-compromising features enabled by default. Joe Average doesn't even know it's possible, let alone that his iPhone is serrepticiously leaking a bunch of personal information everytime he posts a photo he snapped with it to some internet site. I can see it now -- "Hey, check out this cute girl's panties I snapped in class..." Oops. Oh, the bitter irony to be had there -- you're busted violating someone else's privacy because you didn't know your own was being violated by your cell phone. Brilliant.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
That's a time thing I think - when I fire up the map app on the phone it often takes a little while to update and settle on a GPS fix, probably because the GPS isn't powered on all the time for battery life, and it can take upto 30 seconds to register a satellite (due to the nature of the GPS signal itself), so if you just pop open the photo app and take a shot quickly you might get wildly inaccurate data.
Most RAW processing software preserves the tags embedded in the RAW file.
Presumably if you're doing RAW processing you're smart enough to know what EXIF is and make a conscious decision about which tags you want in your web-posted JPEG, but you never know.
And, as you sort of pointed out, it's not even privacy unless the photographer develops his own film.
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
Rule 1 when doing something stupid and / or illegal:
Know your tech. Remember - stupid criminals get caught.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Then maybe you should take a little more responsibility for what you are posting for the public to view.
Given the choice of convenience/cool features or privacy/security, users* will ALWAYS pick convenience/features. 100% of the time. To them, it's not "leaking a bunch of personal information", but enabling that "oh cool, it knows I took these pictures down by the waterfront and stuck them on the map for me" stuff.
* Normal users. Us paranoid slashdotters (and, in general, people that actually understand the necessity and implications of privacy and security) need not apply to that stat.
How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
If you're a politician, you're screwed the minute you set foot in a strip joint. It's not like the people inside have signed non disclosure agreements.
I don't think you get the point.