DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Facebook can track every image uploaded to it even outside of Facebook with a “hidden” digital tag

Jul 22, 2019 by John Aldred 8 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Facebook’s always at the centre of some privacy controversy or other these days. Programmer Edin Jusupovic, spotted something rather odd recently when looking at a hex dump of an image file of unknown origin. After doing a little investigation, it appears to be IPTC “Special Instructions” injected into the image by Facebook.

This header is then kept with the file, as it gets downloaded and reposted around the web. This data seems to have been around since at least 2015, but it seems to have largely gone unnoticed. Now, though, it’s seeing renewed interest in light of recent events and it presents, in Jusupovic’s words, a “shocking level of tracking”.

#facebook is embedding tracking data inside photos you download.

I noticed a structural abnormality when looking at a hex dump of an image file from an unknown origin only to discover it contained what I now understand is an IPTC special instruction. Shocking level of tracking.. pic.twitter.com/WC1u7Zh5gN

— Edin Jusupovic (@oasace) July 11, 2019

Jusupovic’s initial tweet and two subsequent followups read…

#facebook is embedding tracking data inside photos you download.

I noticed a structural abnormality when looking at a hex dump of an image file from an unknown origin only to discover it contained what I now understand is an IPTC special instruction. Shocking level of tracking..

The take from this is that they can potentially track photos outside of their own platform with a disturbing level of precision about who originally uploaded the photo (and much more).

I suppose the more concerning issue here is that there is already a variety of advanced techniques to inject data inside photos using steganography such that it would be impossible to forensically detect.

If weaponized, it could be used for tracking; with zero proof.

Now, there are both good and bad sides to this. Jusupovic alludes to the bad in his tweets. But as for the good, it might potentially help in the event of some copyright disputes. If you upload a photo to Facebook, Facebook injects its tracking data and then somebody downloads it and re-uploads it elsewhere on Facebook, then Facebook can immediately see that it’s somebody else’s duplicated content when it’s spotted and reported.

One Redditor suggests, though, that it’s all about advertising. If Facebook sees the same images re-uploaded by multiple users, they can form some correlations and assumptions about those users and what advertisements they might be likely to click on. Similar people have similar interests and buy similar things.

But it does offer potentially more wide-reaching intent off the Facebook platform itself. Facebook could, in theory, track those images all over the web. Facebook certainly has the money and technological capabilities to scan the web in the same way Google does, indexing everything.

Another user on Reddit, SongForPenny extends this thought by suggesting it could be used by Facebook as a way to build up a view of your entire network of real-world family, friends, co-workers and associates – even if they’re not on Facebook. Again, SongForPenny’s thoughts here are ultimately advertising dollars. But given the data that Facebook seems to so freely throw around, there doesn’t seem to be much in place to prevent 3rd parties from potentially accessing this for more nefarious purposes.

It definitely goes into tin-foil-hat territory, but the Reddit post is worth a read.

[via Haaretz/Forbes]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Tourist accidentally photographs an engagement, uses Facebook to track down the couple Uploaded any photos to Foursquare? They could feature in Airbnb’s new guides. This photographer uploaded a photo to a royalty-free stock site only to find it on over 500,000 Walmart products Zeiss Uploaded More Photos Said To Be Taken With the Sony A7R II; Are The Companies Working Together?

Filed Under: news Tagged With: facebook

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« This photographer creates epic underwater rooms in his backyard
Xiaomi teases the first 64-megapixel smartphone with Samsung’s new Isocell sensor »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • Stability AI’s new AI generator creates images faster than you imagine them
  • AstrHori new 28mm f/13 2x Macro Periscope lens sees round corners
  • Sony World Photography Awards under fire for age limitations in Student contest
  • 5 ways to find inspiration when the weather is sad and grey
  • Photographers, keep an eye out for auroras around the world this weekend

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy