Remove Photo Metadata

Purpose

Remove all metadata (Location, EXIF, GPS, camera info, etc.) from photos to protect your privacy before sharing them.

Input

• Path to the photo file(s) you want to clean

Steps

1. Install exiftool:

apt-get update && apt-get install -y exiftool

1. Remove all metadata from the photo(s):

# For a single photo
exiftool -all= "<user's_photo_path>"

# For multiple photos in a directory
exiftool -all= -r "<user's_directory_path>"

# To overwrite originals without creating backups (use with caution)
exiftool -all= -overwrite_original "<user's_photo_path>"

1. Tell the user that all metadata has been removed. Note that by default, exiftool creates backup files with "\_original" suffix.

Note

This removes ALL metadata including camera settings, timestamps, GPS coordinates, and any other embedded information from the photos.