By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    predictive analytics in dropshipping
    Predictive Analytics Helps New Dropshipping Businesses Thrive
    12 Min Read
    data-driven approach in healthcare
    The Importance of Data-Driven Approaches to Improving Healthcare in Rural Areas
    6 Min Read
    analytics for tax compliance
    Analytics Changes the Calculus of Business Tax Compliance
    8 Min Read
    big data analytics in gaming
    The Role of Big Data Analytics in Gaming
    10 Min Read
    analyst,women,looking,at,kpi,data,on,computer,screen
    Promising Benefits of Predictive Analytics in Asset Management
    11 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Big Data, Small Details: How Metadata Creates Security Risks
Share
Notification Show More
Latest News
ai software development
Key Strategies to Develop AI Software Cost-Effectively
Artificial Intelligence
ai in omnichannel marketing
AI is Driving Huge Changes in Omnichannel Marketing
Artificial Intelligence
ai for small business tax planning
Maximize Tax Deductions as a Business Owner with AI
Artificial Intelligence
ai in marketing with 3D rendering
Marketers Use AI to Take Advantage of 3D Rendering
Artificial Intelligence
How Big Data Is Transforming the Maritime Industry
How Big Data Is Transforming the Maritime Industry
Big Data
Aa
SmartData Collective
Aa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > IT > Security > Big Data, Small Details: How Metadata Creates Security Risks
Big DataSecurity

Big Data, Small Details: How Metadata Creates Security Risks

Larry Alton
Last updated: 2018/02/24 at 11:47 AM
Larry Alton
5 Min Read
big data and meta data
Shutterstock Licensed Photo - By Panchenko Vladimir
SHARE

What happens when you put a photograph online? In most cases, not much happens at all. It simply exists in cyberspace – permanently – 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’t contain any valuable information. What information there is, though, is hidden in the metadata.

Contents
What’s In The Metadata?A Growing RiskIdentifying Trouble Points

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.

What’s In The Metadata?

There are many kinds of information tucked into your photos’ metadata. One of the primary pieces of information, though, is a GPS position as found in the Exif file. Whenever you take a picture with your phone, it embeds your location data into the file. If you upload that photo immediately – or regularly upload from a private location such as your home – then you reveal your whereabouts. It’s why actress Emma Watson doesn’t take photos with fans anymore; the security risk is too great.

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.

More Read

How Big Data Is Transforming the Maritime Industry

How Big Data Is Transforming the Maritime Industry

Utilizing Data to Discover Shortcomings Within Your Business Model
Small Businesses Use Big Data to Offset Risk During Economic Uncertainty
The Importance of Data-Driven Approaches to Improving Healthcare in Rural Areas
How Big Data Is Transforming the Renewable Energy Sector

A Growing Risk

New technologies like facial recognition software have only increased the dangers associated with photo metadata – and the risks of photo mining and app breaches more generally. We’ve 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’s 2014 security breach, and we can expect worse. The growth of big data comes with bigger security risks, but with everything it’s capable of, we’re compelled to keep moving forward. Our role, then, is to identify the greatest risks and minimize them.

Identifying Trouble Points

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 or create holiday cards. All of these platforms have the potential to be easy targets for data theft, but for the most part, they’re interested in metadata for use in targeted marketing.

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. Their aim is to streamline workflows by extracting relevant business data across in-company user uploads. But what’s to stop them from analyzing your private images? What would they learn about your family and friends?

Data analysis gets smarter every day. Facebook has a patent on technology that identifies people who may know each other by analyzing photo metadata and comparing dust and scratches on the camera lens. People who upload pictures with similar file names and matching lens patterns may be connected socially – or maybe they’ve never met or were at the same public event. Facebook may still try to connect them.

The worst-case scenario in metadata mining involves stalking and harassment – and it’s already happened. Want to find someone at home? Look at the Exif data on their personal photos and you can be outside their house or job in no time. The fact is, unless upload platforms automatically erase Exif and other data, or users begin to aggressively eliminate it before posting their images, then that information is out there. And you can’t erase lens dust or scratch patterns. Data miners will always find a way to learn more about you. The best we can do is erase what we have access to. That’s security first.

TAGGED: big data, meta data, metadata, security risks
Larry Alton February 22, 2018
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
Share
By Larry Alton
Follow:
Larry is an independent business consultant specializing in tech, social media trends, business, and entrepreneurship. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

ai software development
Key Strategies to Develop AI Software Cost-Effectively
Artificial Intelligence
ai in omnichannel marketing
AI is Driving Huge Changes in Omnichannel Marketing
Artificial Intelligence
ai for small business tax planning
Maximize Tax Deductions as a Business Owner with AI
Artificial Intelligence
ai in marketing with 3D rendering
Marketers Use AI to Take Advantage of 3D Rendering
Artificial Intelligence

Stay Connected

1.2k Followers Like
33.7k Followers Follow
222 Followers Pin

You Might also Like

How Big Data Is Transforming the Maritime Industry
Big Data

How Big Data Is Transforming the Maritime Industry

8 Min Read
utlizing big data for business model
Big Data

Utilizing Data to Discover Shortcomings Within Your Business Model

6 Min Read
big data use in small businesses
Big Data

Small Businesses Use Big Data to Offset Risk During Economic Uncertainty

7 Min Read
data-driven approach in healthcare
Analytics

The Importance of Data-Driven Approaches to Improving Healthcare in Rural Areas

6 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

ai in ecommerce
Artificial Intelligence for eCommerce: A Closer Look
Artificial Intelligence
ai is improving the safety of cars
From Bolts to Bots: How AI Is Fortifying the Automotive Industry
Artificial Intelligence

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US

© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?