News 13

Social media stalkers: how metadata reveals more

than you think

Kelley Ware
Multimedia Coordinator

Mo? is the type of data that is created every time
something is posted online. This includes where and
when the post is made. It can even cover information on

phone calls, such as duration and to whom the call was made.

Metadata has been in the news more and more in the past
few years, especially after it was revealed that the National
Security Agency (NSA) in the United States was monitoring
phone calls in the name of national security.

other websites for certain keywords, or “pings.”
These pings are certain searches that, in combination
with other pings, could be possible security threats.
Even seemingly innocent things in combination
could appear troubling to government security.

As an example, let’s say there was an avid backpacker and
their search history reflected this. One day, they were
researching pressure cookers as a gift to a friend. Several days
later, the police were at their door and questioned them about
what they know about backpack pressure cooker bombs.

Some social media platforms protect your information better
than others. Metadata on Twitter can reveal how many lists
an account is on and when it was created. It can help make
sure the account is trustworthy. Looking up metadata is not
very helpful on Facebook, which only allows you to access
metadata of friends or profiles that are completely public.

This may be the only time where Facebook is actually ahead
of other platforms in protecting the information of its users.
What would likely seem like the most innocent program
concerning metadata is actually the scariest. Instagram

is a social media stalker, and the amount of information

Governments do not consider it an invasion of privacy
because the content of the post or call is not what they

are monitoring. They are not monitoring the data, only

the metadata. This could lure people into a false sense

of security, feeling that their information is safe. Often,
whoever is monitoring the metadata does not actually need
the context to be able to figure out what is going on.

The concept of metadata is not a new one. Government
agencies have programs that monitor Google and

While stopping security threats before they happen

is something that is hard to argue with, there is an
impression that only governments can access metadata.
Metadata is not protected information; anybody can use
it. Journalists can use metadata to help people discover
the validity of an account, mine for sources, and fact
check. All of these are noble pursuits to break news that
is accurate; however, it does not help ease worries about
metadata since anyone with a basic understanding of
code can access the metadata on social media sites.

anyone can get from a photo you post is quite terrifying.

Using a random photo of a Starbucks cup looking out a
window, with snow on the ground outside and a small
tree in the sidewalk, it is possible to determine the
intersection at which the poster was sitting two hours
before. So yes, the government is using our information
--but to some extent, we certainly let it happen.