Out-of-the-Box Lawyering

Metadata in photos: There’s a lot of hidden information in digital photos

You’ve probably learned about all the metadata that can be found in word processing files. The metadata may show when a document was created, what editing changes were made, and all sorts of other potentially valuable information.

I recently learned that there is also some extremely valuable information hidden away in the digital version of digital photographs. And Microsoft has a free – that’s free – program that allows you to discover from the digital version such information as the date and time when the photo was taken.

You may also be able to discover additional information with Photo Info, although not all of the information may be available for all photos. The additional information may include:

The camera model: If different photos were taken with different cameras, was there more than one photographer?

The serial number of the camera: Again, was there more than one photographer?

Technical information, such as F-stop, exposure time, ISO speed, and focal length: Did the photographer alter the way the scene really looked by adjusting the settings?

The “author”of the photograph

You need to be wary, however, because the metadata may have been changed before you see the photograph. For instance, someone could change the date and/or time when the photo was taken. However, knowledge regarding photo metadata is less well-known than word processing metadata, so photo metadata is less likely to be deleted or changed than the word processing metadata.

In addition to being able to see the metadata, you can, on your own photos, for instance, change your metadata or add metadata such as keywords to help find your own photos more quickly.

Microsoft has a general description of the program here; it has frequently asked questions here and you can download the program here. (You may already have other programs that show certain photo information. I have two, but, unlike Microsoft's program, neither of them show the camera model, the camera serial number, or the "author" of the photograph.)

There is a technical description of Microsoft's program at the site of one of our local TV companies. You will have to search on “metadata” to find it. The page where the description and other computer tips are included is named “Digital Gumbo.” (Only in Louisiana could there be a website with a combination of “digital” and “gumbo.”)

NOTE: I would appreciate learning of ways that lawyers and support personnel have used metadata in photos. I'm not allowing comments to be posted ecause of severe comment spam problems. However, you can send me your thoughts at the following email adress:

Type "noboxes" before the @ sign and type "cox.net" after the @ sign. (Do not include the quotation marks.)

Thanks for your thoughts.