Photo location remover
Phone photos usually record the latitude and longitude where they were taken. Before you send a photo of a protected or sensitive species to someone, or put it in a slide deck or on social media, strip the location and camera data here.
Choose photos
Results
Photos are read and processed only in your browser and never uploaded to any server. The cleaned files are saved straight to your computer.
What is removed
| Data | What happens |
|---|---|
| GPS latitude, longitude, altitude and direction | Removed |
| Camera and lens model, serial number, date taken, editing software | Removed |
| Embedded thumbnail (may still show the uncropped picture) | Removed |
| XMP, IPTC and comments (may repeat the GPS location or author) | Removed |
| Images appended after the main one (HDR, depth maps) | Removed |
| Orientation | Kept, so the photo does not turn sideways |
| Colour profile (ICC) | Kept, so colours stay true |
| The image itself | Kept byte for byte, not recompressed: quality is unchanged |
Why not just save the photo again?
Re-saving in an image editor compresses the photo again and lowers its quality, and many editors keep the original EXIF anyway. This tool takes the JPEG apart and removes only the metadata segments; the image data is left exactly as it was.
Why it matters in ecological work
Where protected and sensitive species occur is confidential, and public reports are often required to blur those locations. GPS data in a shared photo gives the exact location away.
Frequently asked questions
Why remove GPS data before sharing survey photos?
Phone photos usually record where they were taken. The locations of protected and sensitive species are confidential, and a photo that leaks with its GPS data publishes the location.
Does removing the location data reduce image quality?
No. The tool takes the JPEG apart segment by segment and drops only the metadata segments. The image data is kept byte for byte without recompression, and orientation and the colour profile are kept too.
Can I use HEIC photos from an iPhone?
Only JPEG is supported for now. On the iPhone choose Settings › Camera › Formats › Most Compatible, or pick JPEG when you share, then use this tool.