PROTECT YOUR LOCATION — FREE & PRIVATE

Remove GPS Location from Photos

Strip embedded GPS coordinates, altitude, speed, and direction data from your photos before sharing them online.

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📄 remove-gps-location-from-photos.md

#Remove GPS Location from Photos

Strip embedded GPS coordinates, altitude, speed, and direction data from your photos before sharing them online.


PROTECT YOUR LOCATION — FREE & PRIVATE

##Pinpoint accuracy to your front door

Smartphone GPS data embedded in photos is typically accurate to within 3-5 meters. That's enough to identify your exact home address, workplace, gym, school, or any other location you photograph. A single photo can reveal where you live.

What's hidden:34.0522° N, 118.2437° W — accurate to ~3 meters

A photo of your pet, your cooking, or your hobby taken at home reveals your home address to anyone who checks.


##Multiple photos map your life

One photo reveals one location. A dozen photos reveal your daily routine — where you live, work, eat, exercise, and socialize. Combined with timestamps, they create a detailed timeline of your movements.

What 10 photos reveal:Home → Gym (7am) → Office (9am) → Lunch spot → Home (6pm)

Sharing photos regularly over weeks gives anyone a predictive map of where you'll be and when.


##Not every platform protects you

Instagram and Facebook strip GPS on upload. But email, WhatsApp (when sending as document), cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox), forums, personal websites, and many messaging apps preserve GPS data completely.

Platforms that DON'T strip GPS:Email, WhatsApp docs, Google Drive, Dropbox, forums, blogs

Every time you share a photo outside of Instagram/Facebook, assume the GPS data is intact.


##Location metadata has real consequences

There are documented cases of stalking, burglary, and harassment enabled by photo GPS metadata. Posting vacation photos reveals you're away from home. Sharing photos of valuable items reveals where they're stored.

Real-world scenarios:Vacation posts → home known to be empty | Pet photos → home address

This isn't theoretical. Law enforcement agencies regularly extract GPS data from photos in investigations.


##What's hidden in your files

CategoryFieldExample value
GPS CoordinatesLatitude34.0522° N
Longitude118.2437° W
Altitude71m above sea level
Direction247.3° (WSW)
Speed0.0 km/h
Map DatumWGS-84
GPS TimestampsGPS Date2025:02:15
GPS Time19:42:33 UTC
Offset-08:00 (PST)
Device (also location-linked)MakeSamsung
ModelGalaxy S24 Ultra
SerialRF8R...

##Supported formats

JPEGFull GPS suite: coordinates, altitude, speed, direction, timestamps
PNGGPS data in tEXt/iTXt chunks and XMP
WebPEXIF GPS data, XMP location metadata

##Why remove GPS location data from your photos?

Every photo taken with a smartphone contains embedded GPS coordinates that pinpoint exactly where the photo was taken — often accurate to within a few meters. This data is stored in the EXIF metadata of the image file and travels with the photo when you share it.

While major social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook strip location data on upload, many other sharing methods do not. Email attachments, messaging apps (when sending as files), cloud storage links, forum posts, and personal websites all preserve GPS coordinates by default.

The privacy implications are significant. A photo taken at home reveals your home address. Photos taken over time reveal your daily patterns — where you work, eat, exercise, and socialize. For public figures, journalists, activists, and domestic abuse survivors, this data can be genuinely dangerous.

MetaStrip removes all GPS and location data from your photos before you share them. Processing happens entirely in your browser — your photos and location data are never uploaded anywhere. It's the most private way to strip location metadata from images.


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