Security tip for transgender people posting photos |
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For a long time, I have recommended that trans people considering the option of stealth not post photos of themselves online. If you do decide to post photos, there are a few things anyone can do to help reduce compromising your privacy.
A reader notes:
I have a very important suggestion for your website, section Web Safety, subsection Photos. This would be a good place to point out the EXIF metadata function of JPEG images. Many cameras and most image manipulation programs add EXIF metadata to the JPEG images they create. The standard info usually recorded in the EXIF is shutter speed, time/date taken, etc… but it can also contain personally identifiable information. Some advanced cameras include the model and serial or registration number of the camera, which can be used to match photos taken with the same camera regardless of their source, and as unlikely as that seems it has happened before. Images created with image manipulation programs or image scanners can contain even more personal information. Some scanner and image editing programs running on Windows insert the name with which you registered your operating system into the comments section of the EXIF, which is extrememly dangerous because most people use their real names when registering things. Even more ominously than that, some high-end camera phones with GPS function even record the GPS coordinates in the EXIF data, I don’t think I even need to elaborate on how dangerous that is.
If you have a website with images, graphics or photos of any kind I’d recommend you strip their EXIF and comment data first. A lot of freeware programs will do this. With XNView you can click on Tools > Batch Processing then add the photos you want. Check the boxes that say “Delete original” and “Use original path (as output)” In the drop-down menu labelled “Format” select “JPEG” then click the “Options” button next to it, in the popup box that appears un-check both “Keep EXIF data” and “Keep IPTC data” hit OK then click “Go”. The program will keep the filename and location on your hard disc, but will remove all potentially personally identifiable information.
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