What happens when you put a photograph online? In most cases, not much happens at all. It simply exists in cyberspace \u2013 permanently \u2013 with the trillions of other user-generated images. And the fact is that, besides there being an overwhelming number of photos on the web, most of them don\u2019t contain any valuable information. What information there is, though, is hidden in the metadata.<\/p>\n
With the rise of big data, that metadata is suddenly becoming valuable. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the metadata is infinitely more so. And now it could pose a security risk.<\/p>\n
There are many kinds of information tucked into your photos\u2019 metadata. One of the primary pieces of information, though, is a GPS position as found in the Exif file<\/a>. Whenever you take a picture with your phone, it embeds your location data into the file. If you upload that photo immediately \u2013 or regularly upload from a private location such as your home \u2013 then you reveal your whereabouts. It\u2019s why actress Emma Watson doesn\u2019t take photos with fans anymore; the security risk is too great.<\/p>\n Photo metadata typically becomes more complex over time as users modify them. There are fields for titles, photographer name, copyright information, and more. The more you do with a photo before you upload it, the more information that goes with it.<\/p>\n New technologies like facial recognition software have only increased the dangers associated with photo metadata \u2013 and the risks of photo mining and app breaches more generally. We\u2019ve seen this happen before with shifts in all kinds of technology. User technology takes a step forward, but hackers and data analysts move even more quickly. 110 million people were affected by Target\u2019s 2014 security breach, and we can expect worse. The growth of big data comes with bigger security risks<\/a>, but with everything it\u2019s capable of, we\u2019re compelled to keep moving forward. Our role, then, is to identify the greatest risks and minimize them.<\/p>\n The easiest way to identify image-based security risks is to ask where we use, manipulate, and store images. The average person, for example, might upload their images to Facebook and Instagram, but also to printing sites to make family photo albums<\/a> or create holiday cards. All of these platforms have the potential to be easy targets for data theft, but for the most part, they\u2019re interested in metadata for use in targeted marketing.<\/p>\n Another place people commonly upload their photos to is cloud storage, such as Google Drive, Box, and or Microsoft OneDrive. We want to believe these systems are secure, and for the most part they are. But each has its own agenda. Box, for example, recently partnered with Google Cloud Vision to apply image recognition to photo uploads<\/a>. Their aim is to streamline workflows by extracting relevant business data across in-company user uploads. But what\u2019s to stop them from analyzing your private images? What would they learn about your family and friends?<\/p>\nA Growing Risk<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Identifying Trouble Points<\/strong><\/h2>\n