Glossary
Geotag
A geotag is the geographic location recorded inside a photo at the moment it was taken.
Updated
Also written: Geotagging.
A geotagged photo carries latitude and longitude, and usually altitude, a compass bearing and a separate timestamp for the fix. Outdoors with a clear satellite view the coordinates are typically accurate to a few metres, which is enough to identify a building rather than a street.
The values are stored in their own directory within the EXIF block, which is what makes it possible to remove the location while leaving camera settings and copyright in place.
Across a set of photos the pattern says more than any single file. The location that recurs most often, particularly at night, is where someone lives — and that conclusion needs no single revealing picture to reach.
Related terms
- GPS IFD — The GPS IFD is the sub-directory of an EXIF block that holds location data, kept separate from the camera and exposure fields.
- EXIF — EXIF is the metadata standard cameras use to record how, when and where a photo was taken, stored inside the image file itself.
- IFD — An Image File Directory is the table structure EXIF uses to store tags, inherited from the TIFF specification.