Digital Privacy 101

What is EXIF Data, and How Do You Remove It?

You just took a photo. Did you know you also captured your exact GPS location, your phone model, and the time down to the second? This hidden data, called EXIF, is a privacy nightmare. Here's how to remove it for free.

EXIF Data Explained — EXIF data is hidden inside almost every photo you take.

What is EXIF Data?

EXIF stands for "Exchangeable Image File Format." It's a "digital nametag" that your camera or smartphone automatically embeds inside every single image file (.jpg, .png, etc.). It was created to help photographers organize their photos, but it contains a shocking amount of personal information.

What's Hiding in Your Photos?

Go ahead, upload a photo to our home page (it's 100% private, we can't see it). You'll likely find some of these:

Precise GPS Coordinates: The most dangerous part. This is the exact latitude and longitude of where you were standing when you took the photo.
Device Information: The make and model of your phone or camera (e.g., "Apple," "iPhone 15 Pro").
Date and Time: The exact date and second the photo was taken.
Camera Settings: Technical data like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
Software: The name of the software used to edit the photo (e.g., "Adobe Photoshop").

Try The Tool

Want to see what's in your photos? Use our 100% free and private tool. It all happens in your browser.

Clean Your Photo Now

Why Is This a "Privacy Nightmare"?

When you post a photo online—on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, a forum, or even social media—you might be uploading a map straight to your home, your child's school, or your workplace.

If you post a picture of your new TV for sale, you could be accidentally broadcasting your home address to thousands of strangers.

While some social media sites (like Instagram and X) say they scrub EXIF data, many smaller sites, forums, and direct file-sharing services do not. It is always safer to scrub the data yourself before you share it *anywhere*.

How Can You Protect Yourself?

There are two main ways:

Turn off GPS tagging in your phone's camera settings. This is a good first step, but it doesn't remove the device model or timestamp.
Use a tool like PrivacyPixel. Our tool works by "re-painting" your image, pixel by pixel, onto a clean canvas. This creates a brand new image file that contains *only* the visual data (the pixels) and none of the hidden metadata. It's the only way to be 100% sure your photo is clean.

Check it out for yourself on our home page. It's free, and we can't see your data.