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Mining EXIF Data From Camera Phones

Posted by kdawson on from the know-where-you-did-it-last-summer dept.

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."

14 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. Photosynth Would Like This by QBasicer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Photosynth would probably find the information to be extremely useful. Unfortunately, the iPhone camera isn't terribly great (for now), but I can see some of the exif tags coming to more "consumer" cameras (Point and shoot). Almost every online photo service and social networking site could use this information in many ways, such as automatic correlation of pictures and events, concerts, etc.

    --
    x86, oh yes, I'm pro.
    1. Re:Photosynth Would Like This by cayenne8 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      While I'm guessing you can use applications to strip this data...is there anyway (particularly on the iPhone) to keep it from setting this metadata in the first place?!?!

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    2. Re:Photosynth Would Like This by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Now you mention it, the information from the iPhone could be useful for correctly placing a photo in an application such as Google Earth. You would know what angle the camera was in, what direction it was pointing and given the fact its a fixed zoom how line everything up. You could then even use a temporal guide to view evolution of the location over time, given multiple photos.

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    3. Re:Photosynth Would Like This by v1 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      the information from the iPhone could be useful for correctly placing a photo in an application such as Google Earth.

      iPhoto and Aperture are already taking advantage of this enhanced metadata.

      Digital cameras can really stuff the metadata in. Exposure etc are all in there usually. Sometimes other things like camera model and firmware rev.

      I wonder if any of them are putting in too much information though? As in phone number, phone ESN, email address, etc, things most would not want in their pictures without notice...

      --
      I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
  2. meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I can't be bothered to set the clock on my camera, let alone enter personal data.

  3. Re:dumb question by WinterSolstice · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Exif is even viewable on OSX and Windows by just looking at the file's properties.

    Most artists actually *rely* on EXIF (and carefully protect it) to establish things like Copyright - not to mention keeping track of settings.
    If my phone *didn't* tag my photos with my name I'd be a bit miffed :)

    --
    An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
  4. EXIF and hidden thumbnails by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    EXIFs can also contain thumbnails that can sometimes reveal more than needed after for example cropping the original.
    http://no.spam.ee/~tonu/exif/

  5. Sharpie in the pooper! by AdamTrace · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Someone posted a picture of their girlfriend's rear end with a sharpie sticking out of it to a popular anonymous image-sharing web board.

    Unfortunately, the image contained EXIF data, including latitude and longitude. It was quick work to come up with a name and address and all sorts of other information...

    Good times.

  6. Facebook strips exif by Leebert · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've actually found it kind of annoying that Facebook strips exif data. I've wanted to pull it out of some of the pics of friends' iPhone photos and creep them out by knowing where they were when they took them. :)

  7. Off-Topic: Good EXIF editing library? by TejWC · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Sorry for being off-topic here, but I was wondering if anybody knows a good OSS EXIF editing library/software.

    I tried libexif, but it seems to be rather limited in functionality (you can't add in new comments) and other libraries seem to be read only. It would be really useful to be able to easily edit the EXIF data like location, name of photographer, etc.

  8. Re:dumb question by nicknamenotavailable · · Score: 2, Interesting

    For most of my photos, this works:

    cat image_name.jpg | strings | more

  9. Re:Warrent by StreetStealth · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I just checked my most recent Yfrog upload (of something completely innocuous) which I shot and tweeted directly from my iPhone and it looks like every last bit of metadata has been stripped. It doesn't even say what it was shot with.

    Don't know how Twitpic and others work, but so far so good.

    --
    Your mind is clear / The things that you fear / Will fade with how much you / Believe what you hear
  10. Re:The metadata by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    You mean like when Arnold did it, last year?
    http://strydehax.blogspot.com/2009/10/wheres-arnold.html

  11. Accelerometer by kcitren · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How good is the accelerometer and digital compass? Is it good enough to be able to do some blur / shake reduction of the image? Or how about improved panorama auto-stitching? This could actually be interesting... Maybe I need to break down and get an iphone, or wait for a camera enabled ipod.