Beware of Metadata: The documents you send may show your data

Metadata is present in all documents, whether they are in PDF, Word, Excel, etc. format. Sometimes we think that a document only says what is written in it; but it is not so, documents contain the so-called “metadata” and can show corporate and even personal data of the sender.

In this post we will learn more about metadata; what it is, how to locate it, what information it is revealing about me and how to remove it.

What is metadata?

Metadata is any information that is included in digital documents but is not part of the content.

Some examples of metadata are the creation date of the document, the modification date or the author of the document, which, depending on how it is identified, may even show the author’s first and last name. name and surname.

That is, it is information included in the document over which you have no direct control, unless you review it before sending it and decide whether you want to delete it.

Where can I find them?

You can find them in different documents, such as Word documents, PDFs, photographs, as well as in social networks, online shopping, etc.

What are they for?

They are extra information from the data itself.

For example, in a Microsoft Office document, the metadata we can find are the author, the person who saved it, creation date, revisions, comments, hidden text, among others.

In a video, the metadata we can find are the file weight, duration, audio quality, format and even the geolocation of the device through which the video was recorded.

The same of a photographic file, the metadata (also called EXIF data) that we can find are the specifications of the camera with which the photograph was taken, brand, model, focal length, flash usage, latitude, longitude of the location where the photograph was taken (if you take it from your cell phone), resolution, weight and size of the image.

Thus, metadata is used to classify queries in search engines, which is a common use of the same, and thus improve the retrieval of results in a way that facilitates the search; but that is not its only purpose, but in the field of Big Data or IoT, the management of information generated in these two areas is impressive, producing a positive or advantageous effect on decision making.

How can I see them?

In order to view them, we must first identify the type of document and then go to its properties.

We extend the form to the most common documents sent by e-mail or other means, e.g.Word and PDF documents.

Displays the metadata included in each document:

Click on the document you want to inspect with the right button and choose the “Properties” option, in the new window click on the “Details” tab and you will see the data of the document’s author, the person who saved it, date of creation or, for example, where it is located on your PC or Information System.

How can I delete metadata?

Deletion can be done in two ways: manually or through specific metadata cleaning or extraction tools.

Manual elimination

For any Office Package document, when we are viewing the metadata in the “Details” window mentioned above, you can delete them in their entirety from the option shown at the bottom of the same window: “Remove properties and personal information”.

Elimination through specific tools

Nowadays there are a multitude of tools, some of them free of charge, that facilitate their elimination. Here are some examples:

Extractmetadata:

Free online metadata viewer. https://www.extractmetadata.com/es.html

PhotoMe:

Tool for editing or removing photo metadata only. https://www.photome.de/

Meta Cleaner:

Tool that removes all the metadata that can be found in the files we share. https://www.metacleaner.com/

ExifCleaner:

It is a cross-platform application, which can be found for Linux, Windows and Mac. https://exifcleaner.com/

Metashield clean up on line: https://metashieldclean-up.elevenpaths.com/

If you need free help

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