Modern smartphones (and many digital cameras) embed GPS coordinates in each photo they take. Yes, those photos you’re taking have location data embedded in them—at least by default. You may want to hide this information when sharing sensitive photos online. GPS coordinates are stored as “metadata” embedded in the photo files themselves. All you must do is view the file’s properties and look for it. Below are some of the ways to find where a photo was captured that’s being uploaded in Facebook by your friend or someone.
EXIF Info
EXIF data is a form of metadata that can be found in some JPEG and TIFF images. If the camera which took the picture has a GPS unit, then it will tag the image with the GPS coordinates of where the image was taken as part of that EXIF data. Armed with these coordinates, all you must do is put them into Google Maps, which will of course tell you where the photographer was standing when the photo was taken.
If that sounds too easy, that’s because it is. You’ll often find that a given image has no EXIF data at all. Even though smartphones are the most common source of photos, and all have GPS sensors in them, popular services such as Facebook and Twitter strip EXIF data from images specifically to prevent privacy violations. So, if your image is sourced from them this is going to be a dead end.
Check Their Recent Activities
If you’re trying to find the location where a photo on Facebook was taken, you can see if the person who uploaded it to Facebook included any geographical information, check the person’s other posts from around the same time to find more information or do an online image search to see if you can find the photo elsewhere with more information.
Convert The Image into Search Terms
Reverse image search doesn’t always do a good job, but that doesn’t mean all hope is lost when trying to find the original source of an image. Look at your image and try to come up with search terms that describe it.
Then put these terms into Google and switch over to the image results section. If you’re lucky then you’ll get your original image in the results, given that it’s on the web in the first place.
Check For Landmarks or Other Clues
If the above methods don’t get you any closer to finding where a picture was taken, it might be time to put your serious detective hat on. Look carefully at the image for things that tie it to a specific time and place. By looking at clothing, objects, fashion, and other relevant details of the image.
Look up these individual items on Google to learn where they come from or any other information that could help pin a photo’s origin. You can also use this method to get additional keywords for the previous method. At the very least this bit of basic sleuthing can narrow down the location to a specific country, region, or city. Brand names, for example, can be very specific to places.
Ask The Internet for Help
If you’ve exhausted the easier methods of figuring out where a photo comes from, then there’s no shame in asking other people for help. Twitter, Facebook, forums, and other places where people gather online.
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