nfixit2004
Premium
join:2004-01-06
Brooklyn, NY
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to Steve
Re: Digital camera a security risk?
said by Steve  :said by NetFixer :Unless you have privacy issues with someone knowing the brand/model of the digital camera you use and/or the timestamp information, the EXIF information is in no way a privacy or security issue. Oh yah?  EXIF can contain a thumbnail of the image, and it's often maintained even after the full image has been mucked with in photoshop. I recall a headshot that a pretty girl posted of herself on Craigslist, and though it had been cropped, the original uncropped thumbnail was still in the EXIF. Let's just say we got to see a bit more of the pretty girl than she intended. Woot! Likewise, that racy picture that you pixellated or added black bars to? The thumbnail didn't get those edits. Surprise! See the above sample taken from this site (examples are easy to find, but it's harder to find a "good" one that's nevertheless suitable for posting in a public forum). It's fun to investigate pictures with my brother's online EXIF viewer, which will show thumbnails if the EXIF contains them. This is a classic example of hidden metadata, and photographs are not immune; this makes it a security issue. Steve Wow this is something I did not know! so when you think you have blocked something out it still can be seen? is there a way to get rid of the thumbnails |
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NetFixer
From my cold dead hands
Premium
join:2004-06-24
Murfreesboro, TN
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 ·Vonage
 ·Cingular Wireless
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edit:
August 5th, @08:15PM
| said by nfixit2004 :Wow this is something I did not know! so when you think you have blocked something out it still can be seen? is there a way to get rid of the thumbnails If you are really troubled about publishing the EXIF information (including the EXIF thumbnails), an excellent free program can be downloaded from »www.exifer.friedemann.info/ which can save, delete, and restore EXIF information (including the EXIF thumbnails) from JPEG and TIFF images.
--
We can never have enough of nature.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
Test your firewall. |
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Sentinel
Premium
join:2001-02-07
Florida | reply to nfixit2004
This is interesting and might help...
»netzreport.googlepages.com/hidde···les.html |
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nfixit2004
Premium
join:2004-01-06
Brooklyn, NY
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to NetFixer
said by NetFixer :said by nfixit2004 :Wow this is something I did not know! so when you think you have blocked something out it still can be seen? is there a way to get rid of the thumbnails If you are really troubled about publishing the EXIF information (including the EXIF thumbnails), an excellent free program can be downloaded from » www.exifer.friedemann.info/ which can save, delete, and restore EXIF information (including the EXIF thumbnails) from JPEG and TIFF images. thanks for your reply also thanks to Sentinel for the link also, my concern was what about when you post a pic and use a photo app to block out potentially private info(and everyone does this alot) it can still be seen through thumbnails, this is something that needs to be known. most people think(my self included(well until now)) once you use the paint brush tool you have lost the risk involved with posting certain pics.(not that everyone saves and opens up the thumbnails of every pic they see in an online forum). but it is something to know. also I think the makers of certain software apps( ex snagit) should pay attention to matters like this, and explain this to buyers
thanks again |
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Sentinel
Premium
join:2001-02-07
Florida
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·CCLHosting
| Due to this topic I have been checking EXIF data using various apps for fun to see what I can find. Most is just useless camera info and I have not been able to find one thumbnail. Perhaps you have to have the program that was used to edit the pic in the first place?
I have been checking with Irfanview, default Windows picture viewer, Jasc PSP, and Nero image viewer. So far I haven't seen anything odd.
Until today. Today I found a pic that had a weird series of characters in an "artist comment" field. I could not decipher it. Irfanview would not show it, neither would PSP. But Nero showed a very long (35K) series of numbers. I don't know what it is but it is a very long series of numbers that are in pairs. Is that hex?
Anyways, I am going to keep trying to find an app that can decipher it. |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
00000 | If you want to post it, we can try various things.
35K?? Jesus. |
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NetFixer
From my cold dead hands
Premium
join:2004-06-24
Murfreesboro, TN
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edit:
August 7th, @09:43PM
| reply to Sentinel
said by Sentinel :Due to this topic I have been checking EXIF data using various apps for fun to see what I can find. Most is just useless camera info and I have not been able to find one thumbnail. Perhaps you have to have the program that was used to edit the pic in the first place? Try using Exifer, many image display/manipulation programs do not display the EXIF ID information properly and they create their own preview thumbnails rather than using the EXIF thumbnail.
The screen capture images below show Exifer displaying JPEG images both without and with EXIF information.
Exifer displaying image with no EXIF
Exifer displaying image with EXIF
EDIT: I may have to retract my support for the Exifer program. I just discovered a serious bug. The upper image in this post actually does contain valid EXIF data (including an EXIF thumbnail). It and and 45 other images from the same camera and flash card in that folder all have valid EXIF data, but Exifer does not display it. 
I guess I am going to have to start looking for another EXIF editing program (which was primarily my purpose for using Exifer). 
--
We can never have enough of nature.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
Test your firewall. |
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Sentinel
Premium
join:2001-02-07
Florida
·RoadRunner Cable
·CCLHosting
| Yeah, I tried that program with a few of my own pics to see if it displayed the thumbnail properly and it did not. It is an old program though (2002?) so maybe something newer might be better.
If you find anything let me know. I'd like to see it. |
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JTM1051
MVM
join:2000-07-08
Moorpark, CA
edit:
August 9th, @07:29PM
| reply to NetFixer
said by NetFixer :... I guess I am going to have to start looking for another EXIF editing program (which was primarily my purpose for using Exifer). Have you looked at Opanda?
Have a free Opanda IEXIF Viewer and PowerExif, "a professional EXIF Editor".
Edit: Noticed that the way I wrote the post it may be misunderstood that both Opanda IEXIF Viewer and PowerExif are free--sorry the PowerExif is not free.
(Comma should have been after Opanda IEXIF Viewer, not PowerExif) |
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NetFixer
From my cold dead hands
Premium
join:2004-06-24
Murfreesboro, TN
·AT&T Southeast
·Vonage
·Cingular Wireless
·AT&T CallVantage
·Comcast
| said by JTM1051 :Have you looked at Opanda? Have a free Opanda IEXIF Viewer and PowerExif, "a professional EXIF Editor".
Thanks for the tip, I will check it out.
--
We can never have enough of nature.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
Test your firewall. |
|
BandHeight
join:2004-08-30
Portland, TX
| said by NetFixer :said by JTM1051 :Have you looked at Opanda? Have a free Opanda IEXIF Viewer and PowerExif, "a professional EXIF Editor". Thanks for the tip, I will check it out. You might want to check into ExifTool (command line tool):
»www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/
I consider it the ultimate ... so I'd be interested in whether the thumbnail metadata that slipped by Exifer also gets by ExifTool (I doubt it ).
It will require some reading of the docs to get the most out of it, but it can be simple to use as well. Works great for me on Linux and Windows, and works on Mac as well, though I haven't tried the Mac version. |
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