We've got a serious problem on hand, ICmag

Hey all,

I hate to alarm people but I was just reading a thread in the security section and it just occured to me that many people are still in harms way from the pot-busting police.

It was mentioned in this thread that digital cameras leave their own fingerprint on every picture they take. This fingerprint contains the specific code for that camera...essentially leading to where the camera was sold and to who bought it since most people dont pay 500-1000 dollars for a camera in cash.

I'm sure most people use debit or credit.....which means that there is a paper trail and therefore the pictures that people load here can lead directly to them should the police do an investigation based on photographic material loaded here on IC.

When I was lurking at Overgrow.com(never made an account).....I noticed that RC made a thread telling people that he had started to include a program into the site that actually removed this vital info from the pictures as they were loaded in the database. He even used someone as an example and posted the data taken from the picture loaded by that certain member....though he did leave out the vital data.

My question is.........is there a program like this on ICmag? And if not...why? Just because the servers are in amsterdam doesn't mean the police can't get all the info they need from the pictures people post.

Any input from admin, mods, and other members is welcome. Unless of course those members are comin here to troll.

Peace, Love, and the danky goodness

I paid cash for my canon sd900 elph..........

Got mine from a pawn shop. lol

I use a program called IrfanView to get rid of all that EXIF info from my pics before uploading. Very simple to do, and it's a free program to boot. Be safe

Yeah, MIRT is another good one for removing data from pics, it also lets you resize your pics...

Hey fellas

Thanks for posting.

Ok...so it is the EXIF data that contains the info that can trace the camera to where it was bought?

Is this program a sure thing? Is there a way to check to see that it is working?

I personally would love to see a program worked into the site so that those who have no clue about this kind of stuff don't have to worry about it in the first place.

I would like to know where this code can be found, because I cannot find any code with irfanview. I've checked all of the image properties, and it contains detailed information about the camera and settings used to take the picture, dates, etc. BUT I see no code that you could use to trace a digital image back to a specifically bought camera. I photoshop my images to change size/correct colors, and most of the information is removed when saved.

i am almost positive this was addressed by Green Lantern...that was a while ago...

the Administrators here do everything they can to keep us safe...

if you feel that posting your pics puts you in jeopardy, don't post them...

good thread, always keep your security in mind!

found it...

found it...

Green Lantern said:

The gallery extracts exif for you.

Click to expand...

in this thread:http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=14508&page=1&pp=20

Ok..here's another thread about EXIF data.http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=42563

Truth....apparently not all cameras store the camera serial code. But that fact that some do makes this thread worth while to help those in need of being anonymous.

as there is no problem and this issue has already been dealt with in other threads
I'm closing this thread

but just to clarify when you upload a picture here the EXIF data is stripped

OP