Strip GPS and camera data before you share photos
Every photo your phone takes embeds EXIF metadata by default: GPS coordinates (often precise to your front door or office), the exact capture time, your phone model, even a serial number. When you post to social media, list an item for sale, or send it to a stranger, all of that leaks — letting people infer where you live, when you're home, and what device you use.
What EXIF actually exposes
GPS lat/long: pinpoints where the photo was taken — home address, a child's school, your regular spots.
Timestamps: second-precise capture times that, across several photos, reconstruct your routine.
Device info: phone/camera model, lens, sometimes a serial number, usable to link your other photos.
How to remove it losslessly
For JPEG, prefer lossless stripping — delete only the EXIF segments without re-compressing the pixels, so quality is untouched.
Beware: many "re-export and drop EXIF" approaches re-compress the JPEG and degrade it. Pick a tool that strips EXIF losslessly.
PNG/WebP usually lack standard EXIF but may carry other embedded metadata, which a redraw clears.
Do it locally, don't upload
Removing EXIF can happen entirely in your browser; there's no reason to upload private photos to someone else's server.
This site's EXIF removal and viewer tools run fully locally — coordinates and images never leave your device.
FAQ
- Don't social platforms strip EXIF automatically?
- Some strip it during compression, but not always and not completely; original-quality shares, email attachments, and cloud links often keep EXIF. Strip it yourself to be sure.
- Do screenshots have GPS?
- Screenshots generally lack GPS but may carry other data; the real risk is original photos straight from a camera or phone.