Be careful when posting pictures of your bike

Tzardine

Hello all,

Just a bit of advice if I may about EXIF data.

A lot of us like to post pictures of our bikes / cars on this site in different threads.

When we take a photo, a lot of information is stored in the image itself. Information such as the camera model, date / time of the photo, if the flash went off and a tonne of different stuff.

The scary thing is that GPS data is also stored if available. As a lot of us now take and post photos with our phones, the GPS data is very readily available.

This data can be looked up in seconds when you post a photo online.

If you have GPS data in the photo, the obviously your bike can be pinpointed exactly on a map.

I was doing a little experiment today across the motors forum and there are a scary number of bikes where the location can be seen.

If you are going to post a photo please check that the GPS data is not saved in the photo. There are a load of sites that you can do this on by uploading the photo. Just search for EXIF viewer.

Apologies if you know this already, but I figured some may not.

frozenfrozen

if anyone ever spots that I have that let me know and I'll try do the same.

Not a big deal in my case as I don't think anyone will be tracking me down for a 13 year old SV but people with extra shiny stuff would want to be very careful, not only would you see where their bike is kept but if you look in their posting history you could see what kinds of chains they have and the inside of the garage etc and know exactly how its secured.. scary ****

I just got an addon for chrome that shows up the exif info if anyone wants to be able to check fast.

Paulw

I always make sure that when I take photos of the bike, I do it in nice scenic locations - not where I live.

Hotblack Desiato

Yeah discussing exactly what security, locks etc. you have online is dodgy.

In linux you can use exiftool to remove EXIF data

exiftool -all= mypic.jpg

Steve012

As we all of heard of great lengths the eh w*nkers go to to rob bikes, obviously expensive one's main target. After 20 years I never really knew how they can be sold on. Not here I take it, (how much do they make per bike ratio. blah blah.) with all the serial markings, must be heading out in containers out foreign?

naive question.. just wondered. never looked into it.

Lumen

Steve012 wrote: »

As we all of heard of great lengths the eh w*nkers go to to rob bikes, obviously expensive one's main target. After 20 years I never really knew how they can be sold on. Not here I take it, (how much do they make per bike ratio. blah blah.) with all the serial markings, must be heading out in containers out foreign?

naive question.. just wondered. never looked into it.

Broken for parts, probably.

arybvtcw0eolkf

I'm always short of sparring partners, and my dogs can never get enough exercise ~ I'll leave my GPS on in future.

Thanks for the training tip

macplaxton

Tzardine wrote: »

Apologies if you know this already, but I figured some may not.

Exactly how the US lost four very expensive choppers (helicopter choppers ):

http://www.defensetech.org/2012/03/15/insurgents-used-cell-phone-geotags-to-destroy-ah-64s-in-iraq/

rat_race

Tzardine wrote: »

Hello all,

Just a bit of advice if I may about EXIF data.

A lot of us like to post pictures of our bikes / cars on this site in different threads.

When we take a photo, a lot of information is stored in the image itself. Information such as the camera model, date / time of the photo, if the flash went off and a tonne of different stuff.

The scary thing is that GPS data is also stored if available. As a lot of us now take and post photos with our phones, the GPS data is very readily available.

This data can be looked up in seconds when you post a photo online.

If you have GPS data in the photo, the obviously your bike can be pinpointed exactly on a map.

I was doing a little experiment today across the motors forum and there are a scary number of bikes where the location can be seen.

If you are going to post a photo please check that the GPS data is not saved in the photo. There are a load of sites that you can do this on by uploading the photo. Just search for EXIF viewer.

Apologies if you know this already, but I figured some may not.

Good note. Also worth nothing, that a lot of sites, will strip EXIF data upon uploading a photo. Certainly isn't guaranteed though.

Easy to remove this data yourself, if you have it stored. Quick Google!

.G.

You can switch off GPS in your camera settings, saves having to remove it after.

GBX

superg wrote: »

You can switch off GPS in your camera settings, saves having to remove it after.

True .. some phones though will reset preferences after a restart, so double check every so often.

Cienciano

I always upload to the image sharing site sli.mg
Very handy to use on your phone and it strips the exif data automatically.