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There are some images on the Photos tab that don't belong to me

I was looking at my Photos yesterday and discovered three photos that are not mine. The reason I saw them is that they are dated 2037 (December). I looked at the photo information and they are from a Nikon Coolpix L18, which I don't own. Nobody who would be air dropping photos to me has a Nikon Coolpix L18. The time stamp for the photos are 11:59 pm. Two of the photos are in outdoors in daylight, which is not likely to happen at 11:59 pm.

I realize that whomever these photos belong to probably either altered the timestamp or had an incorrect date and time setting in the camera.

Other than the sheer strangeness of seeing photos that are not mine in my Photos gallery, I am concerned that these photos might be some sort of trojan.

Yes, I can just delete them, but that would make it difficult to get the bottom of this anomaly.

Any thoughts, insight, assistance with this issue is much appreciated.

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Rich

jrlbell wrote:
I was looking at my Photos yesterday and discovered three photos that are not mine.

If the photos are in a shared folder that you're a member of, they'll appear in Photos. That page shows ALL images in your account, not just your own. Click one of the photos to view it on the Photos page and it will list the folder it's in at the top op the page.

jrlbell wrote:
The reason I saw them is that they are dated 2037 (December).

This often happens when a photo has no EXIF data information stored. Same with the timestamp being off. I have some photos that I took myself that this has happened to. It's not necessarily something to do with Dropbox.

jrlbell wrote:
Other than the sheer strangeness of seeing photos that are not mine in my Photos gallery, I am concerned that these photos might be some sort of trojan.

It's highly unlikely that they're a trojan. Possible, sure. But I doubt it. If you want to put yourself at ease over it and the files are synced to your computer, scan them with antivirus and anti-malware software.

jrlbell wrote:
Yes, I can just delete them, but that would make it difficult to get the bottom of this anomaly.

They're likely photos from a shared folder. If that's not the case, find the actual location of the photo in your account (Photos isn't a folder) and check the version history of the file. It will tell you which device it was added from.

Jay

Hi @jrlbell, what @Rich said is correct in general for unknown photos that are on your account.

Another possibility is that someone inserted a memory card on a computer you own with your Dropbox account signed in, and the Dropbox desktop application automatically uploaded them.

When you find out more information, please let us know!

jrlbell

I submitted a help request to Dropbox and included the following information, which kind of counteracts what you've been saying. The photos do not appear in my online Dropbox account; in my Camera Uploads folder on my computer(s) (so I cannot scan them for viruses, etc.); or in my iPhone Photos. They only show up in my Photos tab in my mobile Dropbox app. The EXIF information is viewable in the photos. The EXIF is just incorrect in terms of date and time. I have never received any shared photos from anyone (I do share photos with others) via Dropbox.

Having said all of this, your pointing out that Dropbox Photos is not a folder led me to find the culprits. I backed up a clients computer to a folder (tree of folders, actually) on my Dropbox account. Thanks to your idea, I found the "Show in folder" and found them. It all makes perfect sense to me, which I will not bore you with.

I personally have always thought the Photos tab should only show thumbnails for photos that get uploaded/downloaded to the Camera Uploads folder. I really don't like or need all of the photos in my Dropbox account.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

jrlbell

See my reply to @Rich above.

Nobody has access to my computers except me and no one has my Dropbox account except me, but others might find your suggestion helpful.

Thanks.

Nancy

Hey @jrlbell! I just wanted to let you know that I’ve found your ticket in our system and I’ve also left an internal note to our team on your behalf. They’ll review your case as soon as possible and respond back in the same email thread.

jrlbell

My case is solved.

However, I would like it noted that I think the Photos tab in the mobile Dropbox should not have all thumbnails, but only thumbnails from specific folders, including the Camera Uploads folder, the Photos folder, etc. It should not have thumbnails for every photo that exists in Dropbox. I store all sorts of photos in Dropbox that I do not ever need to see on my iPhone. Once those photos are moved from the Camera Uploads folder, the Photos folder, and other folders specified by the user they should not show up as thumbnails anymore. For one thing, it is just too easy to see a thumbnail and delete it, only to find that it has deleted the photo from wherever it was stored.

Jay

Thanks for the feedback. If you're interested in this idea, feel free to vote for it on this suggestion!

jrlbell

Done! Thanks for pointing that out.