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Are you recording sexytime? TURN OFF GEOTAGGING.

aqua

aqua

Zooville Philanthropist
UPDATE: metadata is tricky to get rid of. If you want to check whether a file is safe to upload, use ExifTool and carefully read the report it generates. ExifTool is free and works on macOS, Windows, and all Linux and BSD variants. Get it here: https://exiftool.org/






Hello, big blue safety-ball here with an urgent warning.

If you decide to take pictures or video of your zooey escapades, TURN OFF GPS.



The Problem

This is probably self-evident but it's so easy to mess up. If you're using an iphone or an android phone, and have GPS turned on for maps or vacation photos, you could forget to turn it off for private moments. The same is true for lots of modern point-and-shoots, DSLRs, GoPros, video cameras, etc.

The number of files uploaded to this site with embedded GPS coordinates needs to be zero, and it's not. Just in case the risks aren't clear to someone, I will spell it out:

1. GPS tags on your pics and video point back to the exact place where they were made. If that place is your bedroom, you just told the world where you live. If it's a friend's house, or a party, you may have just outed everyone. Whatever steps you took to protect your zooey identity are ruined.

2. Bestiality is illegal in many places, and where it's not illegal, animal cruelty almost certainly is.

3. Not everybody on this site is your friend. Police, anti-zoo activists, stalkers, private investigators, and trolls all know how to use GPS and other metadata to find targets. Metadata puts people in jail every day for all sorts of things. GPS makes it absolutely trivial.



The Solution

iPhone: Go to Settings --> Privacy --> Location Services --> Camera, and set "allow location access" to "Never," or "Ask Next Time." Setting it to ask next time will let you decide yes or no every time you use the camera, but not from the lock screen. Unlock the phone first.

Android: Open the camera app and press the gear icon to open settings. Under "Save Settings" turn off "Save Location."

Other systems: Read the manual or Google it (sorry, I probably don't own those).

Existing Files: Windows, macOS, and Linuxes all have free tools available to edit or delete tags on files, but it will depend on the file type. Google is your friend here, too, but I can try to help you with specific issues. Or maybe someone else will post their solutions. With video it's probably as simple as re-packing the file with handbrake, and pictures can be touched up in GIMP.



Whatever the case, don't upload something until you have checked there's nothing tagged you don't want the world to know. Stay safe!

?
 
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Fun fact: A journalist who worked hard to get into contact with the leader of some clown group forgot to turn off geo-tagging when he took a picture in the leader's clown mobile.

The journalist was super-proud of his interview, the clown leader was egged a week later when some people found the coordinates in the picture.

[redacted for the feeble minded]
 
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That does exemplify the difficulty of good opsec but can you do me a favor and like... not juxtapose zoophilia with something that horrible?
 
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While I do agree that users should be smart and protect themselves. A site like this should scrub all metadata associated with images before hosting them. Most users don't understand all the nuances of tech and it's good for the designers and moderators of a site like this to help them stay safe.
 
Naughtyspotty said:
While I do agree that users should be smart and protect themselves. A site like this should scrub all metadata associated with images before hosting them. Most users don't understand all the nuances of tech and it's good for the designers and moderators of a site like this to help them stay safe.
Click to expand...
BF did this, but it went down near the end and as always it was denied, I have GPS and time stamped videos with mares from down under, I wiped them myself and warned the owners. Stay safe.
 
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Naughtyspotty said:
While I do agree that users should be smart and protect themselves. A site like this should scrub all metadata associated with images before hosting them. Most users don't understand all the nuances of tech and it's good for the designers and moderators of a site like this to help them stay safe.
Click to expand...
Implementing that can get tricky though. And long term it's much better for people to learn a little bit about protecting themselves. That way if zooville ever gets closed down or if the site's direction changes badly, the skill remains.
 
aqua said:
Implementing that can get tricky though. And long term it's much better for people to learn a little bit about protecting themselves. That way if zooville ever gets closed down or if the site's direction changes badly, the skill remains.
Click to expand...
Why not both teach and auto scrub?
 
what about taking a picture, making a minor photo edit and then screenshotting it. then using that newly edited one. there cant possibly be any exfil or geotag data on that, right?
 
timmythetooth said:
what about taking a picture, making a minor photo edit and then screenshotting it. then using that newly edited one. there cant possibly be any exfil or geotag data on that, right?
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If the data isn't purged, I believe it is till there. Don't quote me on this though.
 
timmythetooth said:
what about taking a picture, making a minor photo edit and then screenshotting it. then using that newly edited one. there cant possibly be any exfil or geotag data on that, right?
Click to expand...

Exif information from the camera/phone that took the photo should not be there then, but I don't know which kind of information your operating system or whatever does the screenshot adds itself. So removing Exif data is always recommended.
 
Tailo said:
Exif information from the camera/phone that took the photo should not be there then, but I don't know which kind of information your operating system or whatever does the screenshot adds itself. So removing Exif data is always recommended.
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yea it would be using a mobile device, so youd be screenshotting the picture and then "creating" a new image
 
umafera said:
auto scrub lets people be lazy. i see people doing this on telegram all the time. they think telegram is removing metadata for them when it isn't.

zv should outright block uploads with embedded gps and tell users how to remove it themselves.
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What about auto scrub programs?

And I know you can manually remove EXIF data on windows, what about Androids and iPhones?
 
Pillar said:
What about auto scrub programs?

And I know you can manually remove EXIF data on windows, what about Androids and iPhones?
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sadly there arent any auto scrub programs for video files that i'm aware of. i had to go through obnoxious contortions to come up with an ffmpeg script to scrub video files. here it is:

Code: 
ffmpeg -i %* -map_metadata -1 -c copy -fflags +bitexact -flags:v +bitexact -flags:a +bitexact -metadata:s:v:0 rotate=0 no-metadata-%*
 
This is why when I do ever decide to take pictures, it will be with a vintage polaroid. And for video, my HI-8, VHS, and VHS-C camcorders.
 
FreakyFred said:
oh, i just used the "remove properties and information" button in windows properties thing
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this doesnt work for videos. the geotags are embedded in a way that windows generally doesn't see them.

if you install mediainfo you can see the embedded geotags, but it won't let you remove them.

safest option is to simply use a recording device that doesn't have GPS to begin with.
 
umafera said:
this doesnt work for videos. the geotags are embedded in a way that windows generally doesn't see them.
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I'm sure there are plenty of posters, both current and future, that would appreciate knowing how to remove that kind of data from videos. Any helpful tips?
 
Pillar said:
I'm sure there are plenty of posters, both current and future, that would appreciate knowing how to remove that kind of data from videos. Any helpful tips?
Click to expand...

the ffmpeg script i posted above is the only way i currently know of that reliably removes all metadata from a video file.
 
so without info on the script i guess i will... upload the video to a virtual machine and use screen/audio capture to make a copy?
 
I read this yesterday and out of curiosity I checked some of my pics and when I go into the details the picture has "location- no location available" or something to that effect.
I'm assuming that is affirming mine was turned off. Correct?
 
I use ExifTool to check and edit metadata. It's free, actively developed, and basically the gold standard. It's written in Perl so it works everywhere, is incorporated into many tools for different purposes, and for checking a file before uploading, it's as easy as dropping the file onto the executable and reading the results.

ExifTool by Phil Harvey

A command-line application and Perl library for reading and writing EXIF, GPS, IPTC, XMP, makernotes and other meta information in image, audio and video files. For Windows, MacOS, and Unix systems.
exiftool.org exiftool.org
 
Forgot to mention, if the Powers that Be decide some scrubbing should happen automatically, ExifTool could be used for that too. Check the Programming section.
 
If I downloaded a video off of kik or a public website like FORBIDDEN_WEBSITE!, would I have to scrub it before reuploading it?
 
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