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I religiously strip metadata with ExifCleaner[0]. Thankfully old cameras don’t have GPS sensors, but with the new ones you have to be careful, including smartph

I religiously strip metadata with ExifCleaner[0]. Thankfully old cameras don’t have GPS sensors, but with the new ones you have to be careful, including smartphone cameras. Metadata in images serves no other purpose than invading privacy. That and being able to sort media by location, time, etc [0] https://exifcleaner.com/ https://exifcleaner.com/

willcipriano 4y ago
> Metadata in images serves no other purpose than invading privacy I don't upload my photos anywhere public. I keep metadata on so I can sort them by location. Uploading photos to the public web is really what is invading your privacy.
- freedomben 4y ago
  Exactly. It serves great purpose to me. I love being able to see exactly where a photo was taken. I have cherished vacation photos from many years ago and I don't remember where we were. When location data is there, I can pinpoint the exact trail or campsite, even when it was very remote. There are also photos of my kids where I'm not sure which house/area we were living in at the time. Location data solves this. Since the location information can easily be removed but is extremely difficult to add, the clear solution to me seems to be to strip it when not wanted, and only upload your photo to trusted services. Most legit services will strip the info anyway (facebook, slack for example).
  - willcipriano 4y ago
    If you followed the story of Shia LaBeouf's "He Will Not Divide Us" where they used things like aircraft flight paths to find the location of a flagpole that moved multiple times, it isn't clear that stripping metadata will save you anyway. I assume anything that I post will leak the location for a dedicated enough person.
socketpuppets 4y ago
Thank you for your idea. I can add new parameter like "exiftool --image image.jpeg --remove" to remove all metadata from the image.
- b5n 4y ago
  How does this differ from `exiftool -all= image.jpeg`? Would it actually _remove_ the data rather than overwriting it? The difference isn't apparent to me from the parent comment or skimming the exifcleaner site/readme.
  - socketpuppets 4y ago
    Why `exiftool -all= image.jpeg` is not enough ? or I think overwrite the metadata with the empty ones will be okay
    - b5n 4y ago
      What is the difference between `exiftool --image image.jpeg --remove` and `exiftool -all= image.jpeg`? It sounds like there is a benefit in adding the `--remove` flag but it's not clear to me what it is. Thanks!
      - socketpuppets 4y ago
        I added remove metadata from images on exifLooter https://github.com/aydinnyunus/exifLooter https://github.com/aydinnyunus/exifLooter
  - socketpuppets 4y ago
    Oh I type wrong. I mean adding remove parameter on my CLI tool like `exifLooter --remove --image=image.jpeg`
cronix 4y ago
> Metadata in images serves no other purpose than invading privacy. That's not true as a blanket statement. If it weren't for gps metadata, photogrammetry[1] would be very difficult. I am able to make my own "google earth" type maps with a much higher degree of detail because I can fly my drone 100 feet over the land and take thousands of gps-stamped pics vs outdated google maps satellite imagery and then get them all stitched together to make a large GeoTIFF. All the processing is done on my PC using opensource WebODM[2], which can then be imported into opensource QGIS where accurate elevation data can be added. It also creates textured 3d models of the land and buildings which can then be imported into opensource 3d apps like Blender. It's been a huge boost. I also like being able to show all of my various images on a map to see where they were taken. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photogrammetry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photogrammetry [2] WebODM quick 3D demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3pMJR-L0Gk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3pMJR-L0Gk
socketpuppets 4y ago
I added remove metadata from images on exifLooter https://github.com/aydinnyunus/exifLooter https://github.com/aydinnyunus/exifLooter

willcipriano 4y ago

> Metadata in images serves no other purpose than invading privacy I don't upload my photos anywhere public. I keep metadata on so I can sort them by location. Uploading photos to the public web is really what is invading your privacy.

freedomben 4y ago
Exactly. It serves great purpose to me. I love being able to see exactly where a photo was taken. I have cherished vacation photos from many years ago and I don't remember where we were. When location data is there, I can pinpoint the exact trail or campsite, even when it was very remote. There are also photos of my kids where I'm not sure which house/area we were living in at the time. Location data solves this. Since the location information can easily be removed but is extremely difficult to add, the clear solution to me seems to be to strip it when not wanted, and only upload your photo to trusted services. Most legit services will strip the info anyway (facebook, slack for example).
- willcipriano 4y ago
  If you followed the story of Shia LaBeouf's "He Will Not Divide Us" where they used things like aircraft flight paths to find the location of a flagpole that moved multiple times, it isn't clear that stripping metadata will save you anyway. I assume anything that I post will leak the location for a dedicated enough person.

socketpuppets 4y ago

Thank you for your idea. I can add new parameter like "exiftool --image image.jpeg --remove" to remove all metadata from the image.

b5n 4y ago
How does this differ from `exiftool -all= image.jpeg`? Would it actually _remove_ the data rather than overwriting it? The difference isn't apparent to me from the parent comment or skimming the exifcleaner site/readme.
- socketpuppets 4y ago
  Why `exiftool -all= image.jpeg` is not enough ? or I think overwrite the metadata with the empty ones will be okay
  - b5n 4y ago
    What is the difference between `exiftool --image image.jpeg --remove` and `exiftool -all= image.jpeg`? It sounds like there is a benefit in adding the `--remove` flag but it's not clear to me what it is. Thanks!
    - socketpuppets 4y ago
      I added remove metadata from images on exifLooter https://github.com/aydinnyunus/exifLooter https://github.com/aydinnyunus/exifLooter
- socketpuppets 4y ago
  Oh I type wrong. I mean adding remove parameter on my CLI tool like `exifLooter --remove --image=image.jpeg`

cronix 4y ago

> Metadata in images serves no other purpose than invading privacy. That's not true as a blanket statement. If it weren't for gps metadata, photogrammetry[1] would be very difficult. I am able to make my own "google earth" type maps with a much higher degree of detail because I can fly my drone 100 feet over the land and take thousands of gps-stamped pics vs outdated google maps satellite imagery and then get them all stitched together to make a large GeoTIFF. All the processing is done on my PC using opensource WebODM[2], which can then be imported into opensource QGIS where accurate elevation data can be added. It also creates textured 3d models of the land and buildings which can then be imported into opensource 3d apps like Blender. It's been a huge boost. I also like being able to show all of my various images on a map to see where they were taken. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photogrammetry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photogrammetry [2] WebODM quick 3D demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3pMJR-L0Gk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3pMJR-L0Gk

socketpuppets 4y ago

I added remove metadata from images on exifLooter https://github.com/aydinnyunus/exifLooter https://github.com/aydinnyunus/exifLooter