New Tool - Metadata Eraser

indianbill007 said:

Hey Guys,

So after reading, working and implementing a lot of stuff on facebook, I have comeup with the idea of a new tool the world would need.

Since you know facebook has been doing a lot of image metadata mining and social connection based decision making systems, friend recognition, tagging etc for stopping spammers.

I am sure others will follow suit shortly. As far as I have analysed facebook tracks the metadata of all images you upload or use and bans all the accounts with that image meta data based on the age of the account. New Account = Quick ban


So I have an idea of building a Meta Data eraser tool which would leave facebook clueless of all the images and no way to tag them and find accounts tagged to them.

I have done some research and I am planning to code this tool and release this tool commercially.

Do you guys think it will be any help to social marketers here and will there be any takers for it?

If yes suggest me a price as well

I am planning to offer a desktop version and a cloud service where people can upload images in bulk and get the metadata removed.

Suggestion please!

I will give you free copy to all those who suggest me some nice ideas. Iam the most generous guy here.

Click to expand...

fun4uoc said:

Now, if you could come up with a workaround for the "identify your friends" roadblock, then you would have something.

Click to expand...

fun4uoc said:

Hate to bust your bubble but there are a ton of free tools that already do this.

How to Remove Metadata

If you want to remove metadata from JPEG files, you should keep in mind that these data can provide useful information (such as focal length, shutter speed, etc.). Therefore, you should never remove them from your original pictures. Instead, you should make a copy of the picture you want to publish and then remove the metadata from this copy.

Several software tools support the removal of metadata. A recommendable one is jhead. It is a free open source program that runs on a variety of operating systems (Windows/Linux/BSD/Mac). Because jhead is a command line tool, it is particularly suitable to be used with batch files.

Less experienced users should adhere to this step-by-step guide (Windows):

1. Create the directory C:\jpeg.
2. Copy all pictures whose metadata you want to remove to C:\jpeg.
3. Download the program file jhead.exe to C:\jpeg.
4. Click on "Start" and then "Execute...".
5. Windows 95/98/Me: Type command.com and click on "OK".
Windows NT/2000/XP: Type cmd.exe and click on "OK".
6. Change to C:\jpeg. To do so, type the following (the words in brackets are instructions to be executed, not to be typed):
c: (press return)
cd\ (press return)
cd jhead (press return)
7. To remove all metadata of all JPEG files in "C:\jpeg", type:
jhead -purejpg * (press return)

If you prefer programs with a graphical user interface, you should try IrfanView. It is a free program for Windows that allows you to view and edit images. Besides IrfanView itself, you need the plug-in "Lossless JPG Transformations". More detailed information about how to install this plug-in can be found on IrfanView's homepage.

Less experienced users should stick to these instructions:

1. Download IrfanView and its plug-ins and install them.
2. Create the directory C:\jpeg.
3. Copy all pictures whose metadata you want to remove to C:\jpeg.
4. Start IrfanView. In its menu bar, click on "File" and then "Thumbnails".
5. A new window has opened. In its left column, select C:\jpeg. The right column will now show small preview images of all pictures of C:\jpeg.
6. Select all pictures. To do so, click on "Options" in the menu bar of the new window and then "Select all".
7. In the same menu bar, click on "File", "JPG Lossless Operations" and then "Lossless transformation with selected thumbs...".
8. A new window has opened. In the section "Transformation", select "None (can be used for optimizing and cleaning)".
9. In the section "JPG APP marker options", select "Clean all APP markers".
10. Finally, click on "Start".

Click to expand...

indianbill007 said:

Yeah, Iam aware of this jhead tool however its not quite a tool which a normal user would like to use, I am planning to build a nice GUI around it and make it very user friendly and plan to sell it, do you think there will be demand of such a tool?

Click to expand...

MisterGemini said:

Depends on your marketing.. you create the demand based on how you market and who you target. If you can hype up the metadata part enough, you can sell it for as much $500 a license if you wanted. Got to be a lot of hype though.

Click to expand...

indianbill007 said:

Yes the meta data part is of real value, specially after facebook going after image tagging etc.

Primary target would be facebook or social network marketers and second would be casual users who are privacy aware.

Click to expand...

MisterGemini said:

So what happens to your tool when facebook decides that images without metadata are spam and ban it?

Click to expand...

MisterGemini said:

So what happens to your tool when facebook decides that images without metadata are spam and ban it?

Click to expand...

fun4uoc said:

Seems like it would be best to erase all meta data and re-write it with random data.

Click to expand...

indianbill007 said:

That would risk a lot of genuine accounts as well, who will be using this tool to protect their privacy.

Click to expand...

MisterGemini said:

Hahaha... facebook and protect privacy is an oxymoron. There is no way you are going to sell facebook or anybody else on that idea.. this meta data nobody can see has what.. their credit card info in it?

They don't need to risk existing accounts, just anyone attempting to upload now... as we have seen, they just need to make the gates of the walled garden a bitch to get past.

Rewriting the data in some more advanced format that is not just an amateur jibbish hash might not be such a bad idea.

Click to expand...

http://www.pixelgarde.com/