Seakret
Why it is worth doing
A photo can carry the exact place it was taken in its hidden metadata. If you share the original file, anyone who receives it can read that place. What is EXIF data explains what else is in there.
Step 1: stop new photos saving your location
- Open your camera app and open its settings.
- Look for an option called Location tags, Save location, Geotag or something similar. The name and the place differ between phones and camera apps.
- Turn it off.
- Take a test photo and check it with the metadata viewer. If it still shows a location, look for the same setting in any other camera app you use.
This only affects photos you take from now on. It does nothing for photos you already have.
Step 2: remove location from photos you already have
- Open the photo metadata remover in your phone’s browser.
- Choose a photo. It shows what the photo contains, and nothing is uploaded: the work happens on your phone.
- Pick Remove location only to keep the other details, or Remove all metadata to strip everything.
- Download the new copy. Its name ends in -no-location or -clean, so you can tell it from the original.
Step 3: share the cleaned copy, not the original
The original file keeps its location. Send the cleaned copy, and keep the original somewhere private, or delete it if you no longer need it. For photos you want to keep out of your camera roll completely, see how to hide photos on Android.
Check that it worked
The tool checks each new file as soon as it is made and tells you what it found. You can also choose the cleaned file again: it should report no location data.
What can still give a location away
- The picture itself: a street name, a shop sign or a recognisable view.
- A motion photo: some phones attach a short video to the photo. Remove all metadata drops it; Remove location only keeps it.
- Captions and messages: the words you write when you share the photo.
- Sending as a file or document: this sends the original, with its metadata, unless you send the cleaned copy.