Parents, grandparents, teachers and club organisers share photos of children. Each file can say where it was taken, at what time and with which phone. Together with a school uniform or a caption, that can point at a child’s regular places. Clean the file and think about the picture.
What to remove
- GPS location: home, school, the park you visit every Saturday.
- Date and time: shows routines.
- Device and owner name: may include the parent’s name.
- Captions and comments written into the file by apps.
How to clean
- Turn off location for the camera app if you rarely need it.
- Before posting or emailing, run the pictures through the Image Metadata Remover. You can add many at once.
- iPhone HEIC photos: use the HEIC Metadata Remover.
- Videos: use the Video Metadata Remover.
- Check one in the EXIF Viewer.
Beyond metadata
Metadata is only part of it. Look at the background for street signs, house numbers, school names and uniforms. Avoid posting full names with pictures, and ask other parents before sharing a group photo. Private groups are safer than public posts, but anyone in the group can save the original.