Ex-Detective Shows Why It's Much Safer To Send Only Screenshots Of Photos To Strangers On The Internet

Are you aware of how much data is stored in a single photo of yours?

Sophia

• Published in Interesting
• June 30, 2022

The world has really come a long way, especially with the evolution of technology. Nowadays, our phones and computers seem to be really knowing us in the most intrusive ways, and if you have at least once suspected that the net is extracting information from you that is more than what you would expect, then you are not wrong.

Technological advancements now enable users to highly personalize their experience with their gadgets, and the information they put out into their phones is used to improve their overall feel as well as generate targeted advertisements for their needs and wants. However, your search history, information from your social media accounts, and your location aren't just the things that your phone knows about you.

Not a lot of people know that our images also contain what we call 'image metadata,' which pertains to the details that are embedded in a camera whenever someone takes a photo, and this is mostly present on our phones. It can contain specific information that could either lead us to our safety or pose a risk to our security.

That being said, two videos on TikTok are circulating, spreading information about how people should utilize this knowledge in keeping themselves and their loved ones safe, and what they can do to prevent their details from getting into the hands of Internet strangers —including the screenshot hack. Read on to find out!

Your phone actually saves a bunch of data in just one snap.

Technical details such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO number, focal depth, DPI, and etc, as well as your creator data, image keywords and captions, titles, comments can actually be stored in a single photo with just a click.

A woman named Chari Pack from Persnickety Box showed this info on TikTok, pointing out that photos have image metadata. She highlights that this can be used by parents to track kids.

GPS coordinates can be stored in your image, which could enable anyone who has access to the photo to know when and where the photo was taken. This is possible for images taken from smartphones and digital cameras.

Pack shows that she got a text from her son asking her if he's allowed to stay a bit longer to play basketball with his friends. He then sent a photo of him as proof.

She then shows how anyone can check if their kid is actually telling the truth—using the information embedded in the photo they send.

This is truly a great way for parents to ensure that their kids are safe and right where they said they are.

This may be a faulty feature sometimes, but it is extremely useful. Take a look at the comments left by people:

It's still also best to remember to trust your kids, and don't suffocate them with you doing surveillance on their every move.

You can do some adjustments, and you may even do an agreement with your kid to do this for safety reasons.

Indeed!

But someone highlighted that while this could be useful for parents, this information could also be wrongly used if the photos fall into the hands of a stranger.

If you want to just be better safe than sorry, you can also turn off this feature like this mom did.

Let's just hope these kids are responsible enough!

On the other hand, an ex-detective under the username @purepower34 on TikTok who once dealt with crimes against kids, revealed the darker side on how this information can be used by bad people.

He highlights that knowing your kid's whereabouts is truly beneficial, but he also shed light on how this can be a potential start of a crime.

The same information that you use to tell where your kid is can also be a handy thing for stalkers, traffickers, and other criminals lurking.

One way to avoid this, is to take screenshots of your photos instead. Here's the full video for his explanation:

People were thankful for the warning:

In this cruel world, it is truly essential that we learn to use technology in our favor.

One way to just prevent this all from happening is to turn off your locations for your camera app, and instead, communicate with your loved ones truthfully about your whereabouts.

Check your settings.

Criminals are becoming a lot more creative with their ways, and they could be using technology to help with their sinister plans.

It's better to just check!

It certainly has its downsides, but hey, at least people now are becoming more aware!

It's either you just screenshot your photos, or completely turn everything off.

Indeed, we love that people are sharing such vital information for our safety.

Remember, only give your raw photos to the people you trust.

Sophia