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This is a fairly interesting article entitled Geotags, Metadata, Social Media and Crime.
Back in October I took a class in forensic data recovery. During the class we played around with digital images, loading them into Google Earth and checking the locations where they were taken. I tried two photos that my wife took with her android which had a Geotag option
The two photos I tried to upload into Google Earth were downloaded from Facebook. When I loaded my images Google Earth showed a location in Kansas. If my photos didn’t contain the lat/long coordinates I assumed Google Earth was defaulting to the middle of the US, which is essentially Kansas? My wife had assured me the geotagging function was on when she took the photos so maybe this explains it?
The Author states Facebook informed him they automatically strip metadata from photos uploaded to their site. Can anyone confirm this?
The Author also states he has asked Facebook if the metadata can be released to LE with a Subpoena or Court order. He states he has not received an answer, but does anyone know the answer to that question also?
Without asking MySpace myself does anyone know if the operate similarly?
According to the article Twitter does not strip metadata. Anyone? Bueller?
He also asserts that Craigslist doesn’t strip the data. If Craigslist didn’t strip the metadata I could see how a tech savvy crook could view an item they wanted, get a location for the item and then hit the house in search for the item.
Another question I have is does anyone know if Craigslist has a way to capture any information when your computer or phone views an item on their site?
In regard to digital images my contact from Facebook got back with me earlier this week. She advised me they were able to capute "some" metadata. I asked for specifics and this is what I received. It should go without saying it will take a search warrant to get the data.
If captured, this is what we have
Date Taken
Date Modified
Camera Make
Camera Model
Orientation
Original Width
Original Height
Exposure
Fstop
Iso Speed
Focal Length
Latitude
Longitude
In regard to digital images my contact from Facebook got back with me earlier this week. She advised me they were able to capute "some" metadata. I asked for specifics and this is what I received. It should go without saying it will take a search warrant to get the data.
If captured, this is what we have
Date Taken
Date Modified
Camera Make
Camera Model
Orientation
Original Width
Original Height
Exposure
Fstop
Iso Speed
Focal Length
Latitude
Longitude
Was the Kansas location anywhere near Coffeyville ?
This is the default position in the US for Google maps.
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The rest of the information here is most likely EXIF data embedded in the JPEG files http//
Facebook (I guess) is rerendering images at a higher compression level for space purposes and in the process is stripping the EXIF tags. I'd be very surprised if they're storing this information, but I have been surprised before.
From a cursory scan of Craiglist it does look like it rerenders and strips metadata from pictures hosted on its own servers. It allows images hosted elsewhere so that may protect the exif tags.
Twitter does not host images itself so again the state of EXIF is up to the hosting sites.