u/cstadler

Sharing a dataset resource that may be useful for researchers, data scientists, and investigators.

Image-Meta has indexed the embedded metadata (EXIF/IPTC/XMP) from ~720 million publicly accessible images using ExifTool. The data is queryable via a REST API & web rather than a bulk download.

**What's in the dataset:**

- Camera make, model, and serial number

- Author, copyright, rights, title, description

- GPS coordinates (where present, subject to strict TOS/paid tier not publicly free available)

- Software chain

- Creation, modification, and index dates

- Filename and document ID

- Creation, Modify Date, Date Found

- Extra JSON supplimental metadata in full per image

**Potential research uses:**

- Camera device attribution studies

- Metadata privacy/leakage research

- Image provenance and disinformation analysis

- Geospatial studies using embedded GPS

- Timeline reconstruction of image publication

**Access:**

Web or Queryable via REST API with field-level boolean search, date ranges,

https://image-meta.com

API docs: https://image-meta.com/api-docs

I've been following James Pearson's work at Reuters covering digital espionage, OSINT-led investigations and cybersecurity — really impressed by the depth of his reporting on attribution and digital forensics.

Are there other journalists or reporters doing similar work I should be following?

Particularly interested in people who cover:

- Image and metadata forensics

- OSINT-led investigations

- Digital espionage and attribution

- Photo provenance and verification

- Disinformation and synthetic media

Could be at major outlets or independent — open to any suggestions, thank you in advance.

First post here. I've spent the last year building something I think the community might find genuinely useful and wanted to share it for honest feedback before pushing it wider.

**What it is:**

Image-Meta (image-meta.com) is a search engine for the metadata embedded inside publicly accessible images — EXIF, IPTC, and XMP fields extracted via ExifTool, currently covering ~720+ million indexed images.

**What it can potentially do from an OSINT perspective:**

**Device attribution**

Search by camera serial number across all indexed images. If a subject has posted photos from multiple accounts or domains, the same physical device will leave the same serial number fingerprint across all of them — even when usernames, locations and posting habits differ.

**Identity traces**

Many people have no idea what's embedded in their images. Author, copyright, rights, and description fields regularly surface real full names, email addresses, employer names, and internal workflow metadata (Lightroom catalogs, machine names, Photoshop license strings)

**GPS ** (Not publicly available only with higher tier subscription and adherence to strict terms)

Some platforms still leak precise coordinates. The index supports coordinate + radius search and reverse-geocoded address queries.

**Timeline and provenance**

foundDT = the date we first indexed the image — the earliest verifiable public appearance. Combined with embedded createDT and modifyDT, you can reconstruct a timeline of when an image was created, modified, and when it first appeared online.

**Software chain**

The software field often tells you every tool that touched a file — useful for detecting manipulation or tracing an image back to its original editing environment.

**REST API available** for integrating into existing tooling — field-level boolean

Search, date ranges, GPS radius, summarized or full metadata payload

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We're in a soft launch phase right now and I'm specifically looking for feedback from people who do this kind of work seriously — what's missing, what would make this more useful in a real investigation workflow, what fields matter most to you.

Not here to spam — if this isn't the right place for this kind of post feel free to remove it.

https://image-meta.com
API docs: https://image-meta.com/api-docs

I've been building a tool called Image-Meta and would love feedback from people who actually do forensics work, since that's one of the primary use cases I'm trying to serve well.

**What it does:**

Crawls and indexes the embedded metadata from publicly accessible images using ExifTool. Currently ~720 million images indexed with full EXIF/IPTC/XMP extraction.

**Forensics-relevant capabilities:**

**Device attribution**

- Search by camera serial number — link multiple images across different domains or accounts back to the same physical device

- Make/model filtering to narrow device type before drilling into serial

**Identity traces**

- Author, copyright, rights, and description fields often contain real names, emails, and organizational affiliations that subjects didn't know were there

- Software fields can expose Photoshop/Lightroom license strings, machine names, or internal workflow metadata

**Timeline reconstruction**

- foundDT = date we first indexed the image (earliest known appearance online)

- createDT / modifyDT = timestamps embedded in the file itself

- Useful for establishing when an image was created vs. when it first appeared publicly

**GPS / geospatial** (Not available to public without subscription)

- Coordinate + radius search for images taken near a location

- Reverse-geocoded address search

- Many images still carry precise GPS even when uploaded to platforms that claim to strip metadata

**What I'm looking for feedback on:**

- Are there metadata fields or query types that would make this more useful in an actual investigation workflow?

- Is the API structure (REST, Bearer token, field-level boolean search) something that integrates well with existing tooling?

- What's missing that you'd expect from a tool like this?

Not trying to sell anything here — genuinely want to understand what the forensics community needs before I build more features.

https://image-meta.com

API docs: https://image-meta.com/api-docs

I've spent the last year building a tool that indexes the EXIF/IPTC/XMP metadata embedded in images across the web — currently sitting at around 720 million + images indexed.

The use cases that seem most relevant to photojournalists:

- Search by author name to find images credited to you (or miscredited)

- Search by camera serial number to track stolen gear or link images to a specific device

- Search by rights/copyright field to find unauthorized use of your work

- Verify image provenance — when and where a photo was taken, what software touched it

https://image-meta.com

https://www.image-meta.com - Find and verify images by their metadata — camera, location, author, and beyond. I would really apprciate any feedback on UI/functionality etc. Thank you in advance.