Other files such as text documents include
If you are working with a trusted correspondent,
metadata too. It could be about how long the
you may suggest that they turn off location
document is, who the author is, when the
services (GPS data) on their device to hide their
document was edited, and a short automated
identity. Exercise caution when requesting
summary of the content. EXIF data and other
images, since the phone model or other EXIF info
kinds of metadata can be extremely useful for
could be used to locate your sources.
verification of media, and also for the creation
and organisation of catalogues.
Scrubbing
metadata
The guide Security in a Box from Tactical
Technology Collective and Frontline
Defenders has even more information
on removing metadata.
In some cases, you may want to remove
metadata from files related to human rights
violations. This is particularly relevant in cases
where sharing or publicising evidence of human
rights violations carries a threat to you or others
involved in recording the incident.
A number of software and online tools can be
used to ‘scrub’ metadata from files. While not all
metadata can be removed – such as the size of a
file, the dimensions of an image, or the time it was
last edited–metadata related to who created and
edited the file can often be removed. The efficiency
of tools varies, so it is best to try a couple and
check that the metadata is effectively removed.
23
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents