brainbaking-com-jlvqtp.txt (16566B)
1 [1]skip to main content 2 [2] [logo] 3 4 • [3]Archives 5 • [4]Works 6 • [5]About 7 • [6]More... 8 9 What Exif Data Reveals About Your Site 10 11 14 August 2025 12 13 I recently came across [7]https://theyseeyourphotos.com/, a hidden ad landing 14 page acting as a small tool that shows your photos reveal a lot of private 15 information for bots to ingest. Ente ad and AI guesstimations of people and 16 locations in photos aside, these crawlers also scan your multimedia files for 17 the presence of [8]Exif data. Funny that the Wikipedia article categorizes Exif 18 as part of digital forensic science, as that’s basically what it is: it leaves 19 traces of information behind we often don’t think about. 20 21 My go-to ImageMagick command includes the -strip argument that: strip(s) the 22 image of any profiles, comments or these PNG chunks: bKGD, cHRM, EXIF, gAMA, 23 iCCP, iTXt, sRGB, tEXt, zCCP, zTXt, date—something I didn’t even know was 24 there. As a thought experiment, I let a Python script that wraps [9]go-exif 25 loose on my /assets and /static folders for this site, revealing some 26 unintended interesting data about the image and the person that created it. 27 28 The result is a cryptic block of Exif information that, if fed to your 29 favourite LLM and asked to summarize and create a profile of its creator, 30 reveals more information than I’d like it to. For example, in 2017 I took 31 snapshots and wrote about [10]six fountain pens. Go-exif outputs: 32 33 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x010f) NAME=[Make] COUNT=(4) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[LGE] 34 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x0110) NAME=[Model] COUNT=(8) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[Nexus 5] 35 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x011a) NAME=[XResolution] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[72/1]] 36 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x011b) NAME=[YResolution] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[72/1]] 37 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x0128) NAME=[ResolutionUnit] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[SHORT] VALUE=[[2]] 38 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x0131) NAME=[Software] COUNT=(12) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[GIMP 2.8.14] 39 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x0132) NAME=[DateTime] COUNT=(20) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[2017:07:16 10:30:49] 40 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x013b) NAME=[Artist] COUNT=(7) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[Picasa] 41 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x0213) NAME=[YCbCrPositioning] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[SHORT] VALUE=[[1]] 42 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x8769) NAME=[ExifTag] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[LONG] VALUE=[[210]] 43 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x829a) NAME=[ExposureTime] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[16670769/1000000000]] 44 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x829d) NAME=[FNumber] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[240/100]] 45 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x8827) NAME=[ISOSpeedRatings] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[SHORT] VALUE=[[133]] 46 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x9000) NAME=[ExifVersion] COUNT=(4) TYPE=[UNDEFINED] VALUE=[0220] 47 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x9003) NAME=[DateTimeOriginal] COUNT=(20) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[2017:07:14 07:57:24] 48 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x9004) NAME=[DateTimeDigitized] COUNT=(20) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[2017:07:14 07:57:24] 49 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x9101) NAME=[ComponentsConfiguration] COUNT=(4) TYPE=[UNDEFINED] VALUE=[Exif9101ComponentsConfiguration<ID=[YCBCR] BYTES=[1 2 3 0]>] 50 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x9201) NAME=[ShutterSpeedValue] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[SRATIONAL] VALUE=[[-590/100]] 51 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x9202) NAME=[ApertureValue] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[252/100]] 52 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x9209) NAME=[Flash] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[SHORT] VALUE=[[0]] 53 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x920a) NAME=[FocalLength] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[3970/1000]] 54 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x9290) NAME=[SubSecTime] COUNT=(7) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[859865] 55 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x9291) NAME=[SubSecTimeOriginal] COUNT=(7) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[859865] 56 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0x9292) NAME=[SubSecTimeDigitized] COUNT=(7) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[859865] 57 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0xa000) NAME=[FlashpixVersion] COUNT=(4) TYPE=[UNDEFINED] VALUE=[0100] 58 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0xa001) NAME=[ColorSpace] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[SHORT] VALUE=[[1]] 59 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0xa002) NAME=[PixelXDimension] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[LONG] VALUE=[[800]] 60 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0xa003) NAME=[PixelYDimension] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[LONG] VALUE=[[600]] 61 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0xa005) NAME=[InteroperabilityTag] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[LONG] VALUE=[[606]] 62 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif/Iop] ID=(0x0001) NAME=[InteroperabilityIndex] COUNT=(4) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[R98] 63 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif/Iop] ID=(0x0002) NAME=[InteroperabilityVersion] COUNT=(4) TYPE=[UNDEFINED] VALUE=[0100] 64 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif/Iop] ID=(0x1001) NAME=[RelatedImageWidth] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[LONG] VALUE=[[2448]] 65 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif/Iop] ID=(0x1002) NAME=[RelatedImageLength] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[LONG] VALUE=[[3264]] 66 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0xa403) NAME=[WhiteBalance] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[SHORT] VALUE=[[0]] 67 IFD-PATH=[IFD/Exif] ID=(0xa420) NAME=[ImageUniqueID] COUNT=(33) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[0dd67d361865e8d95b9e9577e56bfd99] 68 IFD-PATH=[IFD] ID=(0x8825) NAME=[GPSTag] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[LONG] VALUE=[[660]] 69 IFD-PATH=[IFD/GPSInfo] ID=(0x0000) NAME=[GPSVersionID] COUNT=(4) TYPE=[BYTE] VALUE=[02 02 00 00] 70 IFD-PATH=[IFD/GPSInfo] ID=(0x0001) NAME=[GPSLatitudeRef] COUNT=(2) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[N] 71 IFD-PATH=[IFD/GPSInfo] ID=(0x0002) NAME=[GPSLatitude] COUNT=(3) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[50/1 56/1 5367/100]] 72 IFD-PATH=[IFD/GPSInfo] ID=(0x0003) NAME=[GPSLongitudeRef] COUNT=(2) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[E] 73 IFD-PATH=[IFD/GPSInfo] ID=(0x0004) NAME=[GPSLongitude] COUNT=(3) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[5/1 18/1 4772/100]] 74 IFD-PATH=[IFD/GPSInfo] ID=(0x0005) NAME=[GPSAltitudeRef] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[BYTE] VALUE=[00] 75 IFD-PATH=[IFD/GPSInfo] ID=(0x0007) NAME=[GPSTimeStamp] COUNT=(3) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[5/1 57/1 24/1]] 76 IFD-PATH=[IFD/GPSInfo] ID=(0x001d) NAME=[GPSDateStamp] COUNT=(11) TYPE=[ASCII] VALUE=[2017:07:14] 77 IFD-PATH=[IFD1] ID=(0x0103) NAME=[Compression] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[SHORT] VALUE=[[6]] 78 IFD-PATH=[IFD1] ID=(0x011a) NAME=[XResolution] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[72/1]] 79 IFD-PATH=[IFD1] ID=(0x011b) NAME=[YResolution] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[RATIONAL] VALUE=[[72/1]] 80 IFD-PATH=[IFD1] ID=(0x0128) NAME=[ResolutionUnit] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[SHORT] VALUE=[[2]] 81 IFD-PATH=[IFD1] ID=(0x0201) NAME=[JPEGInterchangeFormat] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[LONG] VALUE=[[940]] 82 IFD-PATH=[IFD1] ID=(0x0202) NAME=[JPEGInterchangeFormatLength] COUNT=(1) TYPE=[LONG] VALUE=[[10322]] 83 84 A lot of noise, but also a lot of information that can be turned into a 85 staggeringly accurate profile if it is incrementally enriched by crawling and 86 processing all images. 87 88 Prompt: 89 90 1. Here’s exif data of an image. Can you summarise this by sketching a profile 91 of its creator? 92 2. Can we drill down further to try and create a forensic profile? 93 94 Response: 95 96 1. Device and Camera Information 97 Make & Model: The creator used a LG Nexus 5, a phone released in 2013. The Nexus 5 had an 8 MP rear camera, capable of decent photo quality for its time but not the best by modern standards. This suggests the creator likely wasn’t using the most expensive or high-end tools, and could be: 98 99 An enthusiast who values functionality and simplicity. 100 101 A casual or beginner photographer who might have upgraded from a more basic phone and is learning photography with their phone. 102 103 Someone focused on mobile photography, as the Nexus 5 was known for its Android optimization and ease of use for photography apps. 104 105 Resolution: The photo’s dimensions are 800 x 600 pixels, which indicates a low-resolution image. In forensics, low resolution could point to: 106 107 A web upload or sharing—the image might have been prepared for social media or messaging platforms where smaller file sizes are optimal. 108 109 Compression: The image is compressed in JPEG format, which is common for quick sharing or web usage. Compression often suggests that the creator was more concerned with reducing file size rather than maintaining the highest possible image quality, which could imply an informal or casual approach to photography. 110 111 2. Editing Tools 112 GIMP 2.8.14: The use of GIMP, an open-source tool, reveals that the creator may have had some degree of technical knowledge or a desire to learn. However, GIMP is not known for being beginner-friendly, which suggests: 113 114 The creator may have been more serious about the image-editing process and was willing to invest time learning a free tool. 115 116 The editing done might be part of self-expression or personal projects, as GIMP is often used by hobbyists and individuals who want to create unique content without paying for Adobe Photoshop. 117 118 Artist Metadata (Picasa): The artist tag shows Picasa, another free tool (now discontinued). This tool was used for organizing and managing photos before Google Photos took over. This strongly suggests the creator was: 119 120 Organizing a photo collection, possibly indicating a keen interest in cataloging or archiving their work. 121 122 A casual hobbyist or someone who likes to keep their images easily accessible or categorized. 123 124 3. Photographic Choices and Technical Details 125 Exposure Time: The exposure time (approximately 0.0167 seconds) indicates a relatively fast shutter speed, which would freeze motion and avoid blur. This suggests the creator may have been focused on capturing a specific moment, potentially an outdoor or action shot. The fast shutter speed may also indicate an interest in sharp, clear imagery rather than a more artistic, blurred aesthetic. 126 127 Aperture (f/2.4): The f-number of 2.4 indicates a fairly wide aperture, allowing more light to hit the sensor. This suggests: 128 129 A focus on depth of field, possibly capturing subjects with a blurred background (bokeh effect) to emphasize the subject. 130 131 Likely use in low-light environments, where a larger aperture allows the sensor to collect more light. 132 133 ISO (133): The ISO value of 133 is a bit unusual but suggests the creator was working in a relatively controlled lighting situation—not too dark or bright. This could imply: 134 135 Ambient light conditions, where the creator adjusted ISO to avoid noise but still maintain a decent exposure. 136 137 The creator might have been manipulating the exposure manually or using specific settings to match their environment. 138 139 4. Time and Date Analysis 140 Capture Date: July 14, 2017, 07:57:24 AM and the edited timestamp on July 16, 2017, 10:30:49 AM suggest the creator might have been taking a break or revisiting the image for editing. A few potential conclusions here: 141 142 Timing: The image was captured early in the morning, which might suggest morning photography, possibly during a peaceful or reflective moment. 143 144 The time gap between capture and editing (about 2 days) suggests the creator might not have been in a rush to complete the project, allowing some time for thought and refinement. 145 146 SubSecTime: The SubSecTime value of 859865 appears to be a highly precise timestamp, which could suggest the creator was using a phone with highly accurate time-tracking, potentially for: 147 148 Documenting events or specific moments in time with high precision. 149 150 Attention to detail, perhaps suggesting a meticulous personality or someone involved in documenting events like travel, art, or personal projects. 151 152 5. Geolocation Data 153 Latitude & Longitude: The GPS coordinates point to a location in northeastern France, possibly near Belgium or the Luxembourg border. A few possibilities here: 154 155 The creator could have been traveling or taking a photo in a familiar or significant place (like a favorite spot or during a trip). 156 157 If the person is local to this region, the location could point to local exploration or photography of personal surroundings. If traveling, they could have been documenting their experience, perhaps capturing specific landmarks or moments during their travels. 158 159 Altitude: The absence of significant altitude change (data shows flat or low altitude, typical for urban or suburban areas) might indicate the photo was taken at street level or within a relatively low elevation area (not hiking or on a mountain, for example). 160 161 6. Behavioral Inferences from Metadata 162 Technical Knowledge: The detailed use of manual settings (like exposure time, aperture, and ISO) paired with tools like GIMP and Picasa indicates the creator has some technical knowledge and enjoys tweaking and adjusting their work. 163 164 Casual to Semi-Serious Hobbyist: The combination of the Nexus 5, GIMP, and Picasa points toward someone who likely enjoys photography as a hobby but is not overly focused on professional-grade equipment or editing software. 165 166 Self-Taught or DIY Mentality: The use of open-source tools and older hardware implies someone who enjoys experimenting and learning on their own, possibly through trial and error rather than formal training. 167 168 Forensic Profile Summary: 169 The creator is likely an enthusiast or hobbyist photographer, interested in mobile photography and image editing. They may be self-taught, using GIMP and Picasa to manage and edit their photos. 170 171 They are detail-oriented, with a technical understanding of manual camera settings and a desire to control their image output. The use of a low-res image suggests they were likely sharing their work in a digital format that favored speed and efficiency (like social media). 172 173 Timing and location analysis points to someone who either has a personal connection to the area or was capturing moments during a trip. The morning timestamp indicates a possible preference for quieter, reflective photo-taking. 174 175 Geolocation could imply that they were capturing their environment, whether through travel or personal interest, and may have been documenting specific moments in time with attention to detail. 176 177 This profile suggests a thoughtful, detail-oriented creator who enjoys experimenting with photography and editing, focused more on self-expression and documentation than on professional-grade production. 178 179 That’s a huge wall of text of which much is possibly be hallucinated: 180 thoughtful aperture and lightning settings on a Nexus 5 are non-existent. But 181 still, a few points do easily create a rough profile: 182 183 • Usage of free/OSS tools. Are GIMP users OSS enthusiasts or just too lazy to 184 install a Photoshop crack? I also didn’t realise that Picasa left traces in 185 Exif data. 186 • The presence of the timestamps and the gap between creation and edit date. 187 • The geolocation data: oops, I did not intend for that being there! Not that 188 it matters as keen readers of Brain Baking know where I live. 189 190 Other tags (Software, Make, ImageDescription, UserComment) also reveal 191 information about my image production habits and the hardware used. Did you 192 know that if you save an image from a Google search its Exif Software value is 193 Google? Busted! Did you know that your Nintendo Switch also encodes a healthy 194 amount of Exif information—although it doesn’t explicitly state Switch or 3DS, 195 but you can easily deduce that from the resolution settings. Or how about 196 taking a screenshot on your Mac (UserComment = Screenshot)? 197 198 Today I learned that before publishing any multimedia, it’s best to let 199 ImageMagick’s -strip do its thing. 200 201 [11]software 202 203 You Might Also Like... 204 205 • [12]A quick look at 6 fountain pens 18 Jul 2017 206 207 Bio and Support 208 209 [avatar2024] 210 211 I'm [13]Wouter Groeneveld, a Brain Baker, and I love the smell of freshly baked 212 thoughts (and bread) in the morning. I sometimes convince others to bake their 213 brain (and bread) too. 214 215 If you found this article amusing and/or helpful, you can support me via [14] 216 PayPal or [15]Ko-Fi. I also like to hear your feedback via [16]Mastodon or 217 email. Thanks! 218 219 JavaScript is disabled. I use it to obfuscate my e-mail, keeping spambots at 220 bay. 221 Reach me using: [firstname] at [this domain]. 222 223 ↑ [17]Top | [18]Archives | [19]RSS Feed | [20]bv | [21]© CC BY 4.0 License. 224 [22] [brainbakin] 225 226 227 References: 228 229 [1] https://brainbaking.com/post/2025/08/what-exif-data-reveals-about-your-site/#top 230 [2] https://brainbaking.com/ 231 [3] https://brainbaking.com/archives/ 232 [4] https://brainbaking.com/works/ 233 [5] https://brainbaking.com/about 234 [6] https://brainbaking.com/more 235 [7] https://theyseeyourphotos.com/ 236 [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exif 237 [9] https://github.com/dsoprea/go-exif 238 [10] https://brainbaking.com/post/2017/07/fountain-pens-first-look/ 239 [11] https://brainbaking.com/categories/software 240 [12] https://brainbaking.com/post/2017/07/fountain-pens-first-look/ 241 [13] https://brainbaking.com/about 242 [14] https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=R2WTKY7G9V2KQ 243 [15] https://ko-fi.com/woutergroeneveld 244 [16] https://dosgame.club/@jefklak 245 [17] https://brainbaking.com/post/2025/08/what-exif-data-reveals-about-your-site/#top 246 [18] https://brainbaking.com/archives 247 [19] https://brainbaking.com/index.xml 248 [20] https://brainbaking.com/bv 249 [21] https://brainbaking.com/copyright-and-tracking-policy 250 [22] https://brainbaking.com/links