Photo Privacy Settings

[odnt]

(edit: post split from here: https://www.keyboardforums.com/threads/post-your-keyboard-selfies-here.25707/)

Gary, I can't help responding to your post. I am partly resonsible for the safety of thousands of children, and as such have spent many hours in seminars etc. presented and attended by individuals from some of the orginizations you mention as well as other very serious Federal government types.

Um... you're dang spot on about social networking sites. I know how to back door information from all of them - I've been trained on exactly how. I can geocode a building or your house (I can get exactly where you live from a photo you've posted) and intercept and decode all your tweets, snaps, posts, anything.

I can take your selfie and run it through a facial recognition scan that's f-ing scary accurate - the worst part of all this new technology.

I'm willing to share a couple tools so all my keyboard friends can understand how simple it can be to get the goods on anyone that uses smart phones and/or social networking sites.

This site will let you analyze photos -

http://exif.regex.info/exif.cgi

Most social networking sites strip the meta data for you when you post a photo - criticaly important. Look at some photos off your phone and be shocked by the data. Gary - your photo had the meta data stripped; good job. My scan of your selfie did indicate a keyboard as a kurzweil pc3k8 88 key synthesizer. I also did a facial scan - then again good job. I couldn't find where an image of your exact face existed anywhere on the Internet. I found 10 faces that where digitally similar to your facial structure. If I was determined I would start cross referencing those images with a tie to anything related to keyboards. You see how it goes.

This is a site the fed gov uses to reverse search images -

https://www.tineye.com

You can reverse search images on google, too.

So let's say you have a ring for sale online. You've posted a photo of the ring and your photo host has stripped the meta data for you. I contact you and say can you email me a better photo of inside the band. Now I know exactly where you live because I have the geocode info from the photo meta data. Now I contact you back and say can you meet me in the Walmart parking lot at 2:00 this afternoon - no you say, I'm at work and can't meet until after 5:00. I guess I'd know it's safe to go break in your house at 2:00 that afternoon...

Just one example.

In conclusion, ya, what Gary said.

 

[happyrat1]

Odnt... I went off the grid over two decades ago when facebook first started up. At that point I became fed up with windows and switched over all of my computers to Linux.

Likewise, even two decades ago I could look up some of my old real name posts on Fido from the late 80's and early 90's on Google so I started being extremely cautious about posting my full name anywhere.

When it comes to family photos and such, I'm usually the one taking them and hence am the odd man out in the picture.

I have neither a facebook, nor a twitter, nor a snapchat, nor even a myspace account since I am a firm believer that the internet experience should be anonymous except when making an e-commerce purchase.

As for the metadata? I've never owned a camera with GPS and I scale all of my images before posting with GIMP so all other metadata except for date and time and orientation is automatically stripped.

You do raise some cautionary points though that others would do well to take heed of.

However, I do hope this does not discourage people from posting their selfies on the thread.

Simply take a few precautions before you upload people and everything will be hunky dory. And if you already have an active facebook account? It won't much matter in the long run either way

Gary

PS... I do not now nor ever have nor ever will own a smart phone I have a throwaway flip phone I carry for emergency use only. I'm not one of those people who needs to read his email in a public washroom

 

[Scatabrain]

Why the hijacking. I feel like i missed something. Posts like that don’t make me question posting online. Just this site. Jeez.

 

[happyrat1]

I think the intentions were good, if a little draconian. Basically it was good advice about the internet in general, and maybe a little showing off on Odnt's part.

The upshot that we can all take away from that is yet another reminder that the interweb can be a dangerous place and that everything we put on the web stays there forever. That and the fact that the government puts lots of hidden backdoors into every convenient appliance and data engine they sell to us.

This is, after all the off-topic lounge and fair game for whatever information someone may feel like sharing.

Gary

 

[Ian]

I've split these posts from the selfies thread (https://www.keyboardforums.com/threads/post-your-keyboard-selfies-here.25707/), as it was taking it a bit off topic and could scare new members away.

I also wanted to make a quick post to say that the site strips any EXIF data from images, so it's not possible to use geolocation etc... it sanitises the images to keep them free from any embedded personal data .

 

[happyrat1]

Thanks Ian.

By any chance could you make the selfies thread a sticky as well?

Gary

 

[Ian]

Sure thing - I've stickied it now .

 

[happyrat1]

Thanks Ian...

All my best to Becky. How's her recovery coming along?

Gary

 

[Rayblewit]

What is "sticky"?
What does that mean?
Ray

 

[happyrat1]

It means that the thread is "pinned" to the top of the forum, like the useful tutorial links and the keyboard rig pics threads.

Where's yer ugly mug Ray?

Gary

 

[Rayblewit]

Where's yer ugly mug Ray?

My ugly mug is attached to my ugly neck which extends upward from my ugly gut!
I just haven't gotten around to taking a snap shot just yet! You will just have to put up with that cute wombat just to the right <-------------. Count your blessings!
ray!

 

[Ian]

Thanks Ian...

All my best to Becky. How's her recovery coming along?

Thanks . Not much more news unfortunately, although she is getting a different type of scan this week or next, which we've been waiting a long time for. Hopefully this will give us some news at last .

What is "sticky"?
What does that mean?
Ray

Yep, it's a "pinned" post like @happyrat1 mentioned - if there's something important or a particularly engaging thread, we can make sure it stays at the top of the forum section this way.

 

[Rayblewit]

Thanks Ian and Gary for explaining sticky. Now I know! Had no idea!

Becky's recovery seems to be lingering. I think of her everytime I login here. Always hoping to see a posting from her.
As they say time heals all wounds so as long as it takes.. . Here waiting.
Best wishes Becky. Missing you
Ray