Image Privacy Checklist Before Sharing a Photo

Quick answer

A free checklist to remove location, device and personal data from a photo before you post or send it. Download it or remove metadata in-browser.

Remove EXIF/GPS metadata (location, camera model, timestamp).
Scan the background for addresses, documents, screens or reflections.
Check for people who didn't consent to be in the photo.
Look for visible IDs, tickets, license plates or account numbers.
Crop out sensitive details instead of lightly blurring them.
Make sure the file name doesn't leak private information.
Re-check after editing — some edits re-add metadata.

Remove metadata now — Strip EXIF/GPS in your browser.

The download is generated in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.

What a photo carries that you cannot see

The Exif standard (CIPA DC-008, cited below) defines a block of metadata that cameras and phones write into every JPEG. It includes the capture date and time, the make and model of the device, exposure settings, the software that last touched the file, a small embedded preview thumbnail and — when location services were on — GPS latitude, longitude and altitude precise enough to identify a house. Some cameras also record a body serial number. None of this appears in the picture; all of it travels with the file.

The thumbnail deserves a special mention: it is a separate, tiny copy of the image stored inside the metadata. Editors that crop or redact the main picture but do not rewrite the Exif block can leave the uncropped original visible in that preview.

Why the checklist ends with "re-check after editing"

Stripping metadata is not a one-time job. Every editor that saves the file writes its own tags — the application name, a new modification timestamp, sometimes a copy of the Exif it found on the way in — so a photo cleaned on Monday and brightened in another app on Tuesday can leave the house with a fresh set of data. The safe order is: make all your edits, then remove the metadata as the very last step, then share. The same applies to the file name: phones name photos by date (IMG_20260615_…) and screenshots by time, so a "clean" image can still announce exactly when it was taken.

What different ways of 'cleaning' a photo actually remove.
Method	Removes metadata?	Side effects
Re-encode with Remove Image Metadata	Yes — everything, including the embedded thumbnail	Re-saved at 95% quality; file may be marginally larger
Take a screenshot of the photo	Yes	Resolution drops to your screen size; the screenshot gets its own metadata
Crop or filter in a phone gallery app	Often not	Many apps copy the original Exif block into the edited file
Send through a messaging app	Usually, for photos	Sending ‘as a file’ or ‘as a document’ frequently keeps the original bytes intact
Rename the file	No	Only the name changes

Visible information is the bigger leak

Metadata is easy to strip; what is in the frame is not. Reflections in glasses, windows and mirrors reveal who is holding the camera and what is behind them. A parcel label on a table shows an address. A boarding pass barcode encodes the booking reference that unlocks the airline account. A photo of keys on a hook has been enough to cut a working copy. Scan the edges of the frame slowly before posting, not just the subject.

When something must go, remove it outright. A light blur can be sharpened or guessed; a crop cannot. Blur Sensitive Information pixelates a region you draw permanently — the original pixels are gone from the output, not hidden behind a layer.

Example: You photograph a signed rental contract to send to a flatmate. Before sending: run it through Remove GPS Location, which first shows you the coordinates it found (your living room) and then gives a clean copy; crop out the bank details in the footer; and rename the file from IMG_20260615_Flat_Hausmannstr.jpg to something that does not name the street.

Troubleshooting

I removed the metadata but the app still shows a location.: The app read the location from your caption, your account, or an earlier upload of the original. Re-upload the cleaned copy and check the post's own location field.
The cleaned file is slightly larger than the original.: Expected: the tool re-encodes at 95% quality and deliberately never returns the original, because the original is the file that still holds the data.
Do PNG screenshots need this too?: PNGs rarely contain GPS, but they can carry text chunks with the source app or author. Re-encoding through the same tool clears those as well.

Sources

Exif (Exchangeable image file format) — CIPA DC-008 — CIPA / JEITA · verified 2026-06-19

Last verified 2026-06-19 · reviewed rarely.

Change history

2026-06-19 — Initial publication.

Remove Image Metadata (EXIF & GPS)Strip EXIF, GPS and device data from photos.File Privacy: What Happens to Your FilesLocal tools process files entirely in your browser — they are never uploaded. This page explains exactly where each kind of processing happens.