Tech Question

[midnightright]

Does anybody know that, if you post a picture on a site, are others able to do a reverse image seach on google, or by any other means, and trace that personal photo from your phone, to where you have it posted elsewhere (say on a social media account?)? Just wondering, is all! ...Thanks~ jess

 

[chazmo]

That is an excellent question, Jess.

I hope that is not the case. Images are stored on LTG's server equipment, but your question is a deeper one. @GAD ???

 

[GAD]

All digital photos contain something called EXIF information that includes (depending on the camera) the GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken and the model of the camera. Pro cameras even let you configure copyright information.

Any modern social media platform should be stripping all of that information from a photo uploaded to their site because that info absolutely has been abused in the past.

 

[GAD]

Outside if that if there is any recognizable location in the photo then it is very easy for AI or even a swarm of eager people online to figure out where it is.

Note also that most people are very bad at protecting their privacy online so it’s also generally a simple matter to look through someone’s posting history to determine where they are or were at the time a photo was taken. Combine those clues with the frightening amount of public information out there and, well, you get the idea.

 

[GAD]

Adding because I missed one of your original questions:

Yes - Google Image Search and similar tools will return all known existences of a photo if a copy of it is presented for search.

 

[fronobulax]

Does anybody know that, if you post a picture on a site, are others able to do a reverse image seach on google, or by any other means, and trace that personal photo from your phone, to where you have it posted elsewhere (say on a social media account?)? Just wondering, is all! ...Thanks~ jess

I routinely use TinEye on photos posted on LTG, mostly tracking down memes. But if you have any privacy concerns related to the image then the only totally safe thing to do is not post it online, anywhere, and hope that any cloud storage you are using is secure.

All digital photos contain something called EXIF information that includes (depending on the camera) the GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken and the model of the camera.

Once upon a time some progressive sites that allowed image file uploads would transparently and automatically strip out the EXIF data as part of the uploads. Does LTG do that and, if not, could it be configured to do so? Extra credit for running an EXIF removal tool on all of the images currently stored.

Note that a camera can only record what it knows. The camera in your phone knows a lot but a standalone digital camera might not have GPS access or the correct time.

 

[GAD]

I routinely use TinEye on photos posted on LTG, mostly tracking down memes. But if you have any privacy concerns related to the image then the only totally safe thing to do is not post it online, anywhere, and hope that any cloud storage you are using is secure.



Once upon a time some progressive sites that allowed image file uploads would transparently and automatically strip out the EXIF data as part of the uploads. Does LTG do that and, if not, could it be configured to do so? Extra credit for running an EXIF removal tool on all of the images currently stored.

Note that a camera can only record what it knows. The camera in your phone knows a lot but a standalone digital camera might not have GPS access or the correct time.

All images are resized when uploaded to LTG. The resizing process strips EXIF info.

I went to double-check that and it seems that this was not the case with the rarely used feature "Media Galleries" so I have disabled that feature. See:

I have disabled "Media Galleries"

Media Galleries is a feature that allows the creation of lightbox-type galleries of images. It was VERY rarely used and so shouldn't really affect anything. I removed it because it apparently did not strip out EXIF information from photos uploaded to the site and I don't like that.

letstalkguild.com

 

[midnightright]

Thanks for the wealth of information, and input, it is well appreciated! It's not that I'd mind, it's just that I'd like to know...

Previously, there were people concerned over their voices being identified in a similar fashion via employers, or whatnot, so I'd just always wondered about this too. Thank you again!

 

[West R Lee]

Man, what a great question and fabulous responses. +1

West