Law Enforcement use

[Dennis]

I am new on the forum.  I work for the U.S. Marshals Service.  I am the Systems Administrator/ Account Manager for all of Arkansas and most of Louisiana.  Deputy U.S. Marshals are looking for a tool that will easily allow them to read the geotagging information on jpgs posted by Wanted Fugitives.  You would be surprised how many fugitives are posting photos without realizing that they have geotagging turned on.  Most of these photos are taken by their cell phones.  The computers the deputies are running are secure running on Windows 7 64 bit Enterprise Edition.  Most of the deputies are not "systems" types, but your average user type.  The deputies cannot load any apps as they do not have that permission.  I load the agency approved apps for them.

I am looking for a simple app that will just yank the geotagging location infomation out of the jpegs and other photo types.  It has to be a simple process for if it is a complicated process they won't use it.  The app would also required to become an approved USMS application and would need to be tested before approval.  It has to meet network security requirements.

Your ideas and suggestions could help to remove many dangerous federal and local fugitves from the streets.  I will check back in this afternoon.

Thanks!

Dennis

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Dennis,

If you are running in Windows, all you need to do is download the Windows "exiftool(-k).exe" application from the ExifTool homepage, then create a shortcut and add "-location:all" to the Target Properties.  Then all you have to do is drag-and-drop files onto this shortcut to extract any location-related information.  (You could have just renamed "exiftool(-k).exe" to "exiftool(-k -location:all).exe" instead of messing with a shortcut, except that Windows doesn't permit a colon in a file name.)

- Phil

P.S. I might also suggest adding "-author:all", in case the criminals are dumb enough to put authoring information in the image.

[jcharmon]

Another option, depending on your needs, would be to try Geosetter (http://www.geosetter.de/en/), which uses ExifTool and displays geotagged images on a map. For example, opening a cell phone photo in Geosetter will display the geotagged location on a map. Likewise an application like Picasa (both free) will also display photo locations on a map. Using an application like these (I suspect other options exist as well) may be more convenient for end users than having to deal with raw geographic coordinates from ExifTool output unless they are already using mapping or geographic information software. However, using such applications may complicate your internal software approval process...

[Alan Clifford]

I'd suggest investigating what is already included with Windows.

As I use a Mac I can't investigate Windows myself but I had a look what a Mac already has.  I opened a photo in its generic file viewer called "Preview".  I clicked on "tools" then "show inspector" then "gps".  That gave me a little thumbnail map as well as the gps data.  And a button labelled "locate".  That opened Google maps with a little green arrow on the location.

Surely Microsoft provide something similar?  Anyone with Windows here?

[dmcintyre]

Dennis -

I handle technical investigations for a county prosecutors office. Like very much the program, especially when used with the GUI. Call me at 810-985-2412, mornings for further.

Regards - Don