Every photo your phone or camera takes can store hidden information called EXIF metadata. It is attached to the file and travels with it when you share it.

What EXIF can reveal

• GPS location - the exact latitude and longitude where the photo was taken. This is the big privacy risk.
• Camera or phone make and model.
• Date and time the photo was captured.
• Camera settings (ISO, aperture, shutter, lens).

If you post or send an original photo, whoever receives it can often read all of this, including where you live or work.

Do social networks not strip it?

Some platforms remove EXIF on upload, many do not, and files you send directly by email, chat or messenger frequently keep the full data. Relying on the platform is not a guarantee. The only reliable approach is to strip it yourself before sharing.

How to remove it (privately)

Use our View and strip EXIF tool. Drop a photo and it shows you exactly what is hidden inside, highlighting GPS coordinates if present, then lets you download a clean copy with all metadata removed. Everything runs in your browser, so the photo is never uploaded.

A note on re-saving

Stripping metadata works by re-saving the image without the EXIF block. The visible pixels stay the same. If you also want a smaller file, compress the clean copy afterwards with our image compressor.