JointVenture

To be perfectly honest with all of you, I don't know if this is an actual security issue or not. I do know that EXIF info, which I assume is an acronym for something, is a small text file embedded within each and every digital photograph, that defines a considerable amount of information about that pic .... including the camera make and model, X and Y resolution, exposure time, focal length, etc, etc. This may be exclusive to only .jpg formats, although I believe this type of info is also stored in .tif and .gif files. I'm not sure.

What it comes down to, is that there is more information than meets the eye. There could be more, for instance a serial number from the camera the pic was taken with .... don't really know for sure

So, this is what I do to strip all (??) that added info from each and every file that gets uploaded to the internet ... I use a freeware program known as IrfanView ... basically a digital image viewer / manipulator, available HERE.
When you have the program installed, and have an image open that needs to be cleaned, it's as simple a process as clicking on the save button, which opens a dialog box on how and where to save the file. Take a look, and make sure the Show options dialog box is checked, this in turn will bring up another dialog box to the right of the Save Picture As box that is already open. In this latest box, notice there are several options to select .... one being Keep original EXIF info, make sure that box is not checked ... I also make sure that the top slide bar is pushed all the way to the right to maintain 100% picture quality. This is also an opportunity to give your file a unique name if you choose, or at least something different so as to keep the original file's integrity. It's also a great program for re-sizing pics to fit specific web site file limitations as well .... but you all can figure out how to do that on your own

Sure, there are other programs that will take care of EXIF info as well ... Photoshop being one, utilizing the Save for Web feature. I'm sure there are others as well.

I wanted to thank bc and swordfish for prompting me to start this thread ..... the initial discussion began at swordfish's thread here .... and thanks to aperture for the Photoshop info.

Perhaps some good intelligent dialog will come of this ... particularly what goes on behind the scenes in digital photography that may, or may not be a security risk to us stoners .... uh uh, I mean growers, that choose to post pics online

.... and be safe

jv

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bluecheese

Thank you for providing that info JV. I didn't even know that info existed until you made a comment in SF's thread & I saw it.

Seems to me, the more info that is stripped, the better.

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Freakshow68

got it thank you!

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katchafire

good stuff! thanks for the info.

one love.

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aperture

Here is some reading on XMP files... one of the "couriers" of all this pesky information.

www DOT adobe DOT com/products/xmp/




ape

bobbooty

in the USA: you could have all the pics of mj in the world on your pc, leo's job is to get you to admit they are yours. read the 5th amendment:

i need to find the post i made a while ago about digital photography in the courts.

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MrHydro

Well it won't be long before EXIF information is capturing and sending out personal information. In fact, there is a newer Canon DSLR camera that was inserting the Serial Number of the camera that took the picture.

EXIF is growing rapidly, and it's completely extensible (which means that any manufacturer of cameras or photo editing software can add any details they want to the image).

While I agree that it may not be illegal to have pictures, it's also implicating that a picture may store the Date, Time, GPS coordinates, your name, address and serial number. Information I'd prefer not to openly share on the internets.


While most of that info is not automatically added to images, the standard does support it... Think of it as a nice feature for most people, not a conspiracy.. but at the same time, it's not a good thing for every kind of photo. imagine GPS coordinates, which is completely supported (if you have the right equipment) of an outdoor grow ... and you can see the power there.

Google already has the ability to index this information and has created neat beta apps that group similiar geographical photos by comparing GPS coords to other photos. Neat! But kill it when appropriate.

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bobbooty

correct, however another aspect of use of digital data in the court is that it can be altered, not only by you but by leo, this is what makes its use very tricky in court.

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SkierGuy23

In another thread it was said that when you upload the pictures to GC.com it strips that information for you. Is this not true? I believe it was S2 that stated this.

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bobbooty

unfortunately ive been finding that it doesn't strip it all. some pics are stripped, and some are not. i am not sure why it is this way.

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