The Exif standard lets us store geolocation data in the form of special tags. Usually this data is interpreted as coordinates, and we need a tool on the level of Google Maps to obtain an exact location. However, the service Pic2Map reduces the whole process to a couple of clicks. Upload your photograph to the page, and if the information is correct, it will appear published within seconds.
Technology has advanced so much in recent years that the camera is barely a secondary function inside much more complex devices. WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth support, and direct upload to the web (whether a service like Dropbox or a social network) are some of the aspects that manufacturers promote the most, but there is also usually a GPS module.
If the user wishes, all photographs will receive an Exif geolocation tag indicating the place where they were taken, and from there additional elements can be calculated such as altitude above sea level and the time zone.
The number of Exif readers is very large, and it is not an exclusive condition of Windows (for example, gThumb reads Exif easily), but what we have here today is an online solution: Pic2Map.
How to Find Out Where a Photograph Was Taken
Its use is so simple that it does not require any kind of tutorial: check the box in case the image should be recorded as private, and proceed to upload it. If Pic2Map doesn't find Exif data it will show an error message, explaining that the most popular social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) remove the tags during original processing.
This action is carried out for security reasons: Exif tags can reveal much more than the user wants, and they have been used in robberies, doxxing maneuvers, and even military attacks. That said, the idea is that you use Pic2Map only to upload personal images or ones identified as public, and create your own map.
Another interesting aspect of Pic2Map is that it also detects technical information about the device. Brand, model, lens type, flash, focal length, ISO, and effective resolution are some of the fields present. Personally I have not seen any limit on the number of images that can be processed, and its terms of use seem reasonable.
