Reminder to remove identifying EXIF if you are concerned about privacy.

[Andrea B.]

Some cameras and phone cameras add location coordinates to the EXIF of your photos. If you are concerned about privacy, then please remove the EXIF from your phot files before uploading to any forum. The UVP forum software has no capability for removing EXIF data.

 

For phone cameras there are three solutions I think of at the moment.

 

1) Download some kind of software to your phone which removes EXIF.

 

2) In some phones, you can turn off the GPS so that photos would not be location stamped when made.

(But that is rather a pain to have to be turning on/off GPS just because you want to take a photo.)

Also check your phone camera settings to see if location stamping can be turned off.

 

3) If you are offloading your phone photos through your PC or laptop before uploading them to a website,

then you could use your converter/editor software to remove the EXIF. Most of the photo apps have that capability.

[Andrea B.]

BTW, if your cell phone GPS is turned ON then everybody and their uncle* is tracking you. Don't make it easy for them.

I only turn on phone GPS when I want to find some Pokemons.

 

 

*everybody and their uncle = American slang for "lots of people", most all of whom you do not want to have tracking you.

[StephanN]

I only turn on phone GPS when I want to find some Pokemons.

 

Don't you think that's rather unfair towards Apps who do what you tell them to do? After all, law enforcements bureaus, secret services, Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, etc will not give a hoot what you configure in your security settings, they will do what they want anyway

[dabateman]

There is the gps you can turn off which tags photos. But there is also the gps in your phone you can't turn off and always tracks you. That data can be accessed anytime but still might need a warrant.

 

I remember that being a big deal in 2003. All cellphones after 2001 or so have tracking data that can't be turned off.

 

[Andrea B.]

Cell phones contact cell towers, but that does not use GPS (in my phone anyway). But I think cell phone contact stops when you turn your phone off in some phones. There are some phones which stay in contact with cell towers when turned off in order to continue capturing incoming messages, etc.

 

My cellie is so old that when I turn it off, then it is off. But I really need to get a new one cause the screen is cracked (affects the touch capability) and some things don't work anymore. I just the other day had to transfer Pokemon Go to my iPad because it quit working on the cell.

Ah yes, the vitally important Pokemon Go app. However would I live without it??

(.....note: sarcasm alert was on.....)

 

You know, I have all this Apple Mac stuff except for the cell phone which is Samsung Android. For some reason I liked that better when I got that cell. I don't know what to get next time.

 

My SigOther needed a new cellie and he found one for $80(US) which I do tell you truly seems to do everything which the $1000(US) phones do. Ok, maybe his camera isn't all that good, but still. SigOth and I are in one of those generations for which cell phones are *not* of vital importance to our well being. I often forget to leave home with it -- something which is quite unimaginable to my younger nieces and nephews.

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However, the main concern of this topic is to remind folks that their image uploads might have identifying information in the file EXIF. So they should remove that if they have privacy concerns.

 

If you have an already uploaded image, you can remove it, delete the EXIF and upload it again.

Note that you will need to go into the full editor to properly delete an uploaded image before reloading an EXIF-free version.

I leave the Copyright info in my image files. YMMV.