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discussion / Citizen Science  / 3 February 2025

WhatsApp images

Paula Pebsworth

Paula Pebsworth

Primatologist who studies human-primate coexistence and self-medicative behavior in non-human primates

Groups

Hello All! I want citizen scientists to upload images of particular animals and need the location information associated with the images. My understanding is WhatsApp (easiest way to share images) scrubs the metadata. Aside from uploading the image as a document, any ideas for retrieving the location data? I'd prefer to use iNaturalist but people seem to be reluctant to use it and we need to make it easy for people to participate. Any ideas are welcome!



Lucie Gallegos
@luciegallegos  | she/her
Natural Solutions
As an agronomist engineer, I specialized in environmental management and resource conservation. 🌍 Interested in developing solutions for biodiversity conservation #indicators #monitoring

3 February 2025 8:33pm

Hi Paula, you're right that WhatsApp strips EXIF metadata (including GPS data), which makes it tricky to collect location information when people share photos. Perhaps you could use Google Photos/Apple Photos. Both automatically embed location data in the images if the device’s location services are enabled when the photo is taken. Then, if users upload their images to one of these platforms, you can ask them to share the photo with a link (which will include the location).

Otherwise, do you know why people are reluctant to use iNaturalist? Seek has a simpler interface and could be a solution for those hesitant about using iNaturalist ?

Hope that helps, 

Cheers, 

Lucie