Posting Photos, Metadata, and Today's Hunter

[Nickofthewoods]

As hunters we are naturally wary of exposing our favorite hunting locations to others, and since many of us post pictures here and elsewhere online I figured I would initiate a fun experiment. Many threads have mentioned the use of embedded "metadata" in photos being discoverable by any moderately tech savvy people out there. Photos that were taken when the phone's location services were enabled are supposedly susceptible to being pinpointed via gps coordinates in this data. Taking a screenshot (which is what I started doing awhile back at the advice of one of the mods here) will supposedly change the metadata to eliminate this threat. As a small challenge and educational experiment, here are some photos below for anyone here to try and identify the locations. Two were taken with my phone's location services enabled, one other is a screenshot, and one other is a downloaded photo from my old phone. Let's see if anyone can successfully locate any of them. None are secret spots to me so I will be 100% transparent in confirming the location if anyone guesses correctly.

 

[CamoPirate]

You never really needed to be tech savvy to figure out the metadata, just right click and properties.

Most forums auto wipe metadata when you upload pictures; and it's not hard to disable location on photos on a phone. Not only for hunting spots but also so people can't just get GPS locations on your home, where you take your kids, etc.

 

[SWOHTR]

I have no idea where that is.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

You never really needed to be tech savvy to figure out the metadata, just right click and properties.

Most forums auto wipe metadata when you upload pictures; and it's not hard to disable location on photos on a phone. Not only for hunting spots but also so people can't just get GPS locations on your home, where you take your kids, etc.

If forums like this auto wipe metadata as you say, then why would forum moderators recommend screen shots to those concerned about the location of a photo being revealed? Based on other threads, there are many people that are unclear about this. I'm curious myself.

 

[ozyclint]

What if you take a photo with a photo taking device? (An actual camera)

 

[WeiserBucks]

The first two were taken on the water.

The third one was taken at the base of some mountains.

The fourth one was taken near the entrance of a tent.



I win.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

The first two were taken on the water.

The third one was taken at the base of some mountains.

The fourth one was taken near the entrance of a tent.



I win.

Very good! The only thing you win so far though is my confidence that you won't find the location of these photos via their metadata.

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

I bet more spots are found from skylines than metadata. Everywhere is someone's backyard.

I feel like we've hit a point where people blow up spots without thinking about it, or because they want likes and validation for "knowing something". Metadata isn't needed when hunting spots are a Google search away.

Edit: And to answer your question on the photos. At least the couple I checked. The first one is a screenshot.
The other two I checked for you have no location data.

You can always put in bullshit locations too with the way phones let you add them now.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I bet more spots are found from skylines than metadata. Everywhere is someone's backyard.

I feel like we've hit a point where people blow up spots without thinking about it, or because they want likes and validation for "knowing something". Metadata isn't needed when hunting spots are a Google search away.

Edit: And to answer your question on the photos. At least the couple I checked. The first one is a screenshot.
The other two I checked for you have no location data.

You can always put in bullshit locations too with the way phones let you add them now.

Thanks for playing along! That's good that no location data came up I guess. I tried checking myself, and I could get location data when I uploaded my pictures to my laptop, but once I posted them here I could not.

You are probably correct about the skyline theory. I once found a terrific cutthroat trout lake from a picture in a fly fishing guide book because I recognized the jagged cliffs behind it.

 

[Ucsdryder]

My girlfriend loves to chronicle her hunts through Instagram. We have a rule, no picture is posted without my approval. And she knows if there’s a skyline or a mountain it’s going to get the axe!

 

[GSPHUNTER]

One photo is in a tent.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

One photo is in a tent.

@WeiserBucks beat you to this comment.

The fourth one was taken near the entrance of a tent.

@GSPHUNTER I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

 

[WCB]

Funny I just located an exact piece of public a guy on a hunting film/show was hunting by a 5 second piece of video where his buddy was messing with a map. They were Antelope hunting and I have a Deer tag for the area so was basically just doing it for the hell of it.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

@WeiserBucks beat you to this comment.



@GSPHUNTER I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Suckin hind teat again, damn.

 

[ShakeDown]

I scrub all data with EXIF Viewer.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I scrub all data with EXIF Viewer.

Interesting. I thought EXIF viewers were what people used to try and access the metadata from photos. Do you have use some kind of EXIF scrubber app on your phone that you use?


So far the most relevant information on this topic is an article from a cyber security company from 5 years ago. Link below. Here is an excerpt from that article in which they tested several internet platforms to see what happens to metadata when photos were posted.

"Here are the results of our experiment:

Facebook, Twitter, and VK.com delete metadata;
Google+ does not delete metadata;
Instagram deletes metadata;
Flickr, Google Photo, and Tumblr do not delete metadata;
eBay and Craigslist delete metadata.
The services that don’t delete metadata usually have privacy settings which at least let users hide it. The key word here is hide: Services can actually store metadata separately. The data is still can be used by services themselves (think ads), by law enforcement…by hackers — but that is a topic for another discussion."

Sounds like most platforms, probably Rokslide included, delete metadata for their users. However, the photo's metadata may get stored in that platform's database which could possibly be accessed by site administrators. In other words, guys like Robby Denning and Randy Newberg may possibly still be able to access location data attached to your posted photos - or allow access to others to view that metadata. Anyone getting their blaze orange tinfoil hats out yet? I digress.

Even screenshots which are typically a .png file may have discoverable data to people with the right access. So maybe don't take a screenshot of the picture you took of an Elk in your hidey hole - while you are still standing in your hidey hole. Law Enforcement Agencies may still be able to request this data from platforms to use in their investigations, so watch that fence line! The bottom line is that complete anonymity doesn't exist on the internet. It can be increased with certain precautions, but be sure you want to post photos before you post them.

What EXIF can tell about the photos you post online

Photo files often contain additional data on shooting conditions, including a geotag. What happens to this data when the photo is published online?

usa.kaspersky.com

 

[ShakeDown]

Interesting. I thought EXIF viewers were what people used to try and access the metadata from photos. Do you have use some kind of EXIF scrubber app on your phone that you use?


So far the most relevant information on this topic is an article from a cyber security company from 5 years ago. Link below. Here is an excerpt from that article in which they tested several internet platforms to see what happens to metadata when photos were posted.

"Here are the results of our experiment:

Facebook, Twitter, and VK.com delete metadata;
Google+ does not delete metadata;
Instagram deletes metadata;
Flickr, Google Photo, and Tumblr do not delete metadata;
eBay and Craigslist delete metadata.
The services that don’t delete metadata usually have privacy settings which at least let users hide it. The key word here is hide: Services can actually store metadata separately. The data is still can be used by services themselves (think ads), by law enforcement…by hackers — but that is a topic for another discussion."

Sounds like most platforms, probably Rokslide included, delete metadata for their users. However, the photo's metadata may get stored in that platform's database which could possibly be accessed by site administrators. In other words, guys like Robby Denning and Randy Newberg may possibly still be able to access location data attached to your posted photos - or allow access to others to view that metadata. Anyone getting their blaze orange tinfoil hats out yet? I digress.

Even screenshots which are typically a .png file may have discoverable data to people with the right access. So maybe don't take a screenshot of the picture you took of an Elk in your hidey hole - while you are still standing in your hidey hole. Law Enforcement Agencies may still be able to request this data from platforms to use in their investigations, so watch that fence line! The bottom line is that complete anonymity doesn't exist on the internet. It can be increased with certain precautions, but be sure you want to post photos before you post them.

What EXIF can tell about the photos you post online

Photo files often contain additional data on shooting conditions, including a geotag. What happens to this data when the photo is published online?

usa.kaspersky.com

Sorry for the tardy response. Yes, an EXIF viewer is the type of application used to view metadata. I should have been more specific. “EXIF Viewer” is the specific application I use to scrub EXIF data.

 

[elkliver]

i don't see any location info on any of the photos.... Either im doing it wrong or Rokslide Scrubbed it

 

[Wrench]

Having been the victim of photo poaching, I will never risk it again. I really don't care if I'm famous or if people call bs without pics. Once was enough. I have a story that involves a couple ghetto hoodrats, 9mm's, elk and the law that's hysterical...all came from the hood rats doing searches on the photos.