We live in an age where sharing photos taken on smartphones online is effortless, but photos contain far more personal information than you might imagine. Sharing photos without thinking can lead to unexpected problems.
This article explains the risks of photo sharing and practical measures to protect your privacy.
Risks Hidden in Photo Sharing
- Location Data Leakage: Photos taken with smartphones may contain GPS coordinates, which could reveal the location of your home or workplace
- Exif Data Exposure: Shooting date/time, camera model, and settings information could be exposed to third parties
- Unauthorized Reuse: Without proper access controls, anyone can download and reuse your photos
- Personal Identification: Combining facial photos with location data creates a risk of identifying individuals
Practical Protection Measures
Remove Exif Data
Removing Exif data before uploading photos prevents leakage of location and camera information. While you can do this manually, the most reliable method is to use a service that automatically strips Exif data during upload.
Set Password Protection
In addition to limiting access to people who know the URL, setting a password provides an extra layer of security.
Set an Expiration Date
Setting an expiration date for shared photos prevents them from remaining on the internet indefinitely. It's reassuring to know that photos will be automatically deleted after a certain period following the event.
Limit the Sharing Scope
Rather than publishing to the general public, use "limited sharing" that restricts access to only those who know the URL.
PicTomo's Privacy Features
PicTomo comes with the following privacy protection features as standard:
- Automatic Exif data removal when photos are uploaded
- Option to set a password on albums
- Automatic deletion via expiration dates (access becomes unavailable after expiry)
- Limited sharing accessible only to those who know the URL
Summary
When sharing photos online, simply being mindful of three things — "removing location data," "password protection," and "expiration dates" — can significantly reduce privacy risks. To share precious memories safely, check the privacy features when choosing a service.