Photos and images

Does this photo know where you livePhone cameras write GPS coordinates into the image file, accurate to a few metres.What EXIF data actually containsEXIF is the block of information a camera writes into every photo.Cropping is not deletingPhotos often carry a small preview image inside them.What a screenshot gives awayScreenshots do not carry GPS.What your iPhone writes into every shotHEIC by default, GPS to the metre, the lens used, and on newer models a great deal more.Strip EXIF from a JPEGRemoves the metadata segments and leaves every pixel exactly as it was.Strip metadata from a PNGPNG files carry text chunks that editors and screenshot tools write without asking.Take the location out of a photoWorks on JPEG, PNG, WebP and HEIC.Clean a HEIC photoMost online tools cannot read HEIC properly.

Documents

What a PDF remembersA PDF stores an author field, the software that made it, timestamps, and often earlier drafts of itself.What a Word file carries with itAuthor, last editor, company, total editing time, reviewer comments and every tracked change — all stored as plain text inside the file.Strip metadata from a PDFBlanks the author, title, producer and timestamps in place, so the document structure stays valid.Clean a Word documentBlanks the author and company, drops reviewer comments, accepts insertions and rejects deletions — without needing Word.Clean an Excel workbookBlanks the author and company, and tells you about hidden sheets rather than quietly deleting them.Clean a PowerPoint deckDecks travel further than any other document, and carry the author's name the whole way.What is hiding inside this PDFAnnotations, embedded JavaScript, attached files and launch actions — all reported before you open it.Find the tracked changes someone left inDeleted text stays in the file.Find the sheets you cannot seeHiding a sheet is a display setting.What your CV says behind your backA CV is the one document you deliberately send to strangers.

Sharing safely

Check it before you send itA thirty-second habit that catches almost everything: look, then clean, then send.Which apps strip your metadataSome platforms re-encode images and drop everything.Like exiftool, without the terminalexiftool is the better tool.

When the stakes are high

Before it leaves the firmDocument metadata has produced real disclosures in real filings.Metadata is personal dataA name and a location inside a file are personal data whether or not anyone meant to put them there.The file is the fingerprintA document sent to a newsroom carries where it was made, on what, and often by whom.What gives you awayIf you are sending something you cannot be traced to, the file itself is usually the weakest link.