What Your Photos Reveal: Location and Metadata Explained
Updated 9 November 2026
Every photo from a phone carries a small block of hidden information called metadata, usually in a format called EXIF. You do not see it when you look at the picture, but anyone who has the original file can read it.
What is in it
- Date and time the photo was taken.
- GPS coordinates, if location was on for the camera. Often accurate to a few metres.
- Device details: phone model, lens, and camera settings.
- Orientation, so the photo displays the right way up.
- Sometimes a thumbnail of the original, even after cropping in some editors.
Why it matters
Location data in a photo posted publicly can reveal where you live, where your children go to school, or when you are away from home. Most big social networks strip it when you upload, but email attachments, file-sharing links, forums and marketplaces often keep the original file untouched.
How to remove it
On iPhone: when sharing, tap Options at the top of the share sheet and turn off Location.
On Android: in the Google Photos share sheet, or in the camera settings, turn off location tags.
With a converter: converting a photo to a new file through a browser canvas, as this site does, writes only the pixels. GPS, camera details and other EXIF fields are not copied. The orientation is applied to the image itself so it still displays correctly.
Online converters and privacy
Most online converters upload your file to a server. That is not necessarily a problem, but it means a copy of your photo, metadata included, briefly exists on someone else’s computer. Converters that work in the browser never send the file anywhere. If a site says it works offline or “no upload”, you can check: open your browser’s developer tools, go to the Network tab, and convert a file. You should see no upload request.