Carlos Guerra
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cguerra.bsky.social
Carlos Guerra
@cguerra.bsky.social
440 followers 250 following 40 posts
Tech Advisor on digital security and circumvention | Venezuelan
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cguerra.bsky.social
:)
July 13, 2025 at 4:37 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Just want these to exist outside my phone, amazing concert!
July 13, 2025 at 4:37 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
However, if using exiftool is difficult (or just annoying), there are other ways. For instance, in macOS, you can right-click the file, go to "Quick Actions", and select "Convert Image" to create a new version of the file; just uncheck the option "Preserve Metadata" and you should be good to go :)
Screenshot of a macOS computer when the example image is right-clicked and the option "Quick Actions", "Convert Image" is highlighted The window of "Convert Image" on macOS with the option "Preserve Metadata" unchecked and enclosed in a box added after the screenshot was taken A screenshot of a file explorer in macOS showing two files: "not_made_by_me clean.png" and "not_made_by_me.png" Output of exiftool for the new created file without personal data
June 29, 2025 at 3:25 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Ok, so back to the original file: if you are comfortable enough to run tools on the command line, exiftool, the one we used to check the existing metadata, can also remove it in a new version of the image. In this case by running "exiftool -all= not_made_by_me.png"
A screenshot of a file explorer in Linux showing two files: "not_made_by_me.png_original" and "not_made_by_me.png" Output of exiftool for the updated file without personal data
June 29, 2025 at 3:25 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
PAUSE! Before we get too stressed, let's say something actually good and helpful: if we send the picture over Signal or WhatsApp, this data will be deleted (mostly because the platform creates its own version of the picture, hopefully optimized). This example is for the same image on Signal
Output of exiftool for the file after downloading it from Signal without personal data
June 29, 2025 at 3:25 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Now, if we use a tool for extracting the metadata in a more professional way (exiftool for the curious), we get this on the file (spoiler: 😐 You can see my name, that I used Canva to create the image with documents and user id, and some other weird fields that I couldn't find much about 🤔)
Output of the exiftool tool for the example image showing clear personal information, like the name of the author and a field called "Creator Tool" that has text describing that the author used Canva to create the image, alongside other information that seems like document and user id in Canva. The personal or identifiable information is redacted, and a surprised face emoji was added to that part of the output. Also, there are some fields that seem to have identification information, but their purpose is not clear: "Ads Ext Id" and "Ads Fb Id". A question mark emoji was added to that part of the output.
June 29, 2025 at 3:25 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Let's take this image above (not_made_by_me.png), usual guidance says to right-click and then select Properties/Get Info to check the available metadata. Here is what it looks like for Windows, Mac, and Linux (Ubuntu in this case):
The properties panel on Windows for the example image file, showing no evident metadata with personal information, except for a field called "Program name" with long text that can't be scrolled to check thoroughly. This field has a question mark added later to emphasize the lack of access to the metadata field. Properties panel for the example image file on Linux showing a field called "Creator" with the name of the author of the thread. An emoji with a surprised face to the side, and a box enclosing the field for emphasis. Properties panel for the example file on macOS showing no evident personal data in the metadata list, but a long text in a field called "Where from" that is redacted, over the redacted text, there is another text that says: Gibberish that could mean something when deobfuscated, like the username of the sender, recipient, etc. (For context, I sent this over Gmail to a Mac computer, so please, also consider that)
June 29, 2025 at 3:25 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Let's talk metadata: Today, a friend of mine in a risky environment asked me how to make sure an image they designed is not traceable back to them, since it's been a while since the last time I checked "deeply", it was time for a refresh!!
An example image that we will use over the thread
June 29, 2025 at 3:25 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
However, if using exiftool is difficult (or just annoying), there are other ways. For instance, in macOS, you can right-click the file, go to "Quick Actions", and select "Convert Image" to create a new version of the file; just uncheck the option "Preserve Metadata" and you should be good to go :)
Screenshot of a macOS computer when the example image is right-clicked and the option "Quick Actions", "Convert Image" is highlighted The window of "Convert Image" on macOS with the option "Preserve Metadata" unchecked and enclosed in a box added after the screenshot was taken A screenshot of a file explorer in macOS showing two files: "not_made_by_me clean.png" and "not_made_by_me.png" Output of exiftool for the new created file without personal data
June 29, 2025 at 3:11 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Ok, so back to the original file: if you are comfortable enough to run tools on the command line, exiftool, the one we used to check the existing metadata, can also remove it in a new version of the image. In this case by running "exiftool -all= not_made_by_me.png"
A screenshot of a file explorer in Linux showing two files: "not_made_by_me.png_original" and "not_made_by_me.png" Output of exiftool for the updated file without personal data
June 29, 2025 at 3:11 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
PAUSE! Before we get too stressed, let's say something actually good and helpful: if we send the picture over Signal or WhatsApp, this data will be deleted (mostly because the platform creates its own version of the picture, hopefully optimized). This example is for the same image on Signal
Output of exiftool for the file after downloading it from Signal without personal data
June 29, 2025 at 3:11 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Now, if we use a tool for extracting the metadata in a more professional way (exiftool for the curious), we get this on the file (spoiler: 😐 You can see my name, that I used Canva to create the image with documents and user id, and some other weird fields that I couldn't find much about 🤔)
Output of the exiftool tool for the example image showing clear personal information, like the name of the author and a field called "Creator Tool" that has text describing that the author used Canva to create the image, alongside other information that seems like document and user id in Canva. The personal or identifiable information is redacted, and a surprised face emoji was added to that part of the output. Also, there are some fields that seem to have identification informationm but their purpose is not clear: "Ads Ext Id" and "Ads Fb Id". A question mark emoji was added to that part of the output.
June 29, 2025 at 3:11 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Let's take this image above (not_made_by_me.png), usual guidance says to right-click and then select Properties/Get Info to check the available metadata. Here how it looks like for Windows, Mac, and Linux (Ubuntu in this case):
The properties panel on Windows for the example image file, showing no evident metadata with personal information, except for a field called "Program name" with long text that can't be scrolled to check thoroughly. This field has a question mark added later to emphasize the lack of access to the metadata field Properties panel for the example image file on Linux showing a field called "Creator" with the name of the author of the thread. An emoji with a surprised face to the side, and a box enclosing the field for emphasis. Properties panel for the example file on macOS showing no evident personal data in the metadata list, but a long text in a field called "Where from" that is redacted, over the redacted text, there is another text that says: Gibberish that could mean something when deobfuscated, like the username of the sender, recipient, etc. (For context, I sent this over Gmail to a Mac computer, so please, also consider that)
June 29, 2025 at 3:11 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
That said, when you try to disable any of these things, it offers you to disable the Advanced Protection mode altogether and it is not hard: biometrics and a restart that can be done later if you want. So it is promising for sure, but as it is implemented not bulletproof for physical access cases.
Android setting screen for Advanced Protection, after tapping the control to disable it and introducing biometric information, there is an overlay message saying "Restart your device? Device protection is now off. However, some features require a restart to turn them off." And two buttons: Restart and Restart later.
June 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Enabling Android Advanced Protection on a Pixel from the stable update: very easy to activate, and I haven't noticed any usage problems or incompatibilities. The intrusion logging isn't there yet (so alert on that one), and I couldn't disable Play Protect or enable 2G networks as advertised.
Android security settings screen for Play Protect, it shows the option "Scan apps with Play Protect" enabled in a way that is imposible to disable, and a message at the end stating "Advanced Protection requires that app scanning stays on to check for malware." Android setting screen for Network Connectivity, in it the option 2G network protection is enabled, and the control to change the configuration is not usable. When tapping, there is an overlay image saying "Restricted by Advanced Protection. For your security, Advanced Protection requires this setting to remain on"
June 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Tell Washington DC that I'm coming
The look from a hallway from airport building to airplane through many vertical openings where many planes can be seen against the sunset Inside of a plane with lights off just before taking off where the only lights are the ones entering from the windows at sunset.
December 1, 2024 at 12:07 AM
cguerra.bsky.social
The face of someone who loves rollercoasters 🎢
Guy in a rollercoaster (Batman Gotham City Escape) in-ride photo pointing forward while smiling at the exact moment the coaster accelerates in the first launch Batman Gotham City Escape rollercoaster in Parque Warner, Madrid. Picture from the internet
November 23, 2024 at 7:53 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
My lunch today (and his face when he realized it)
Grey cat looking surprised as he heard he is going to be my lunch for today (in a figurative way, I will only bite his belly)
November 15, 2023 at 7:27 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
Ok searching images in the Bluesky Android app is terrible, also, after a while I'm not even sure if I can add videos, but well, here it is :))
October 7, 2023 at 5:54 AM
cguerra.bsky.social
With them colonizing my travel bag I'm not sure if they don't want me to go or if they want me to bring them to the next trip 🤔
The cutest cats in the world inside a duffle bag their father uses to travel, clearly manipulating the latter to do something not very clear.
July 6, 2023 at 2:11 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
After years of being disconnected with photography, finding by accident a cute frame in my "office" was a nice moment today :)
Reflection of a Window in a magnifying glass alongside a picture of the Arrabida bridge in Porto
July 4, 2023 at 9:12 PM
cguerra.bsky.social
I'm still not sure..
Kombucha girl meme, undecided
July 4, 2023 at 2:39 PM