Dating in a digital landscape comes with its own set of risks, but one TikToker is hoping to help people navigate it more safely. A user who claims to be a retired detective and goes by Killer Bee Tactical, LLC (@purepower34) often shares safety and survival tips on his TikTok account. His most recent video garnered 2.3 million views and was a response to a woman’s tip on receiving photos.
In the original TikTok, the woman says you can verify exactly what time and at which location a photo was taken on an iPhone. To do this, she says to download the photo that was sent to you and check its metadata by clicking the “i” icon at the bottom of the screen. She uses a photo her son sent her as an example.
“Now I know right where you’re at, son,” she says.
The alleged retired detective stitched this video to add his own safety tip for people dating online.
@purepower34 #stitch with @persnicketybox @purepower34 screenshots #momsoftiktok #dadsoftiktok #kidssafety ♬ Summer – Instrumental – Devinney
“If you’re online dating, and you send photos to a stranger, you just sent them where you were,” he says. “So, if you’re standing on your porch when you took the photo, that could be an issue.”
The creator suggests taking a screenshot of that photo and sending it instead.
“A screenshot doesn’t have that information,” he continues. “Take a screenshot of the photo, send the screenshot.”
While a photo’s metadata is nothing new on Apple’s iOS software, the company made it easy to change the information in their iOS 15 release last September. According to CNET, this helped with the feature’s privacy issue since someone could easily scour your metadata to identify your location.
For those who may not know how to change the metadata of a photo, the screenshot tip comes in handy.
“You have no idea how many lives this could save.. thank you,” one user wrote on the creator’s video.
“Saving lives one post at a time,” another wrote.
Others suggested simply turning off the location permission on your camera or using a metadata remover app.
For some, however, the metadata helps in verifying whether someone they’re dating is being dishonest.
“This is how I found out a man I was seeing was MARRIED,” one user replied. “And a full-blown MISSIONARY!”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via Instagram message for this story.
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