What EXIF is
Exif, short for Exchangeable image file format, is defined by CIPA and JEITA. The CIPA standards page lists the current edition as Exif Version 3.1 (DC-008-Translation-2026), published 2026-01-30, a revision of DC-008-2024. The Library of Congress describes Exif as defining a pair of file types, mainly intended for recording technical details associated with digital photography. In compressed (JPEG) Exif files, the metadata is inserted in APP1 and APP2 marker segments. The tags it records include camera settings, the camera manufacturer, date and time, and picture-taking conditions, and the specification also provides a method for recording thumbnails.
How location ends up in a photo file
ExifTool's documentation states that the GPS tags are part of the EXIF standard and are stored in a separate IFD (a table of tags) within the EXIF information. The tags include GPSLatitude, GPSLongitude, GPSAltitude, GPSTimeStamp and GPSImgDirection. Whether a given photo has them depends on the device and its settings; this page makes no claim about which phones or apps write them by default. Apple's Preview help shows the other side of this: its Show Location Info command is available only for images that contain location information, and it then shows a pin on a map.
Common metadata fields
The table lists fields the Exif specification defines, using the tag names and IDs from ExifTool's tag tables. Having a field defined does not mean your photo contains it. The last column describes the PrivacyBench EXIF remover, based on its source code (details in the next section).
| Field (tag name, ID) | What it is | Why it can matter | Our remover |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make 0x010f | The camera or phone manufacturer. | Narrows down what device took the picture. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| Model 0x0110 | The camera or phone model. | Together with other fields, can help tell which device a set of photos came from. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| DateTimeOriginal 0x9003 | The date and time the picture was taken, stored as text to the second. | Shows when you were at a place, which can matter for photos shared later. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| CreateDate 0x9004 | The date and time the image was digitized. | A second timestamp that can differ from the date taken. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| ModifyDate 0x0132 | The date and time the file or image was last changed. | Shows when an edit happened. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| Orientation 0x0112 | A number telling viewers how to rotate or mirror the stored pixels for display. | Not private. It is needed to show the picture upright, so the remover applies it to the pixels instead of keeping the tag. | Tag not kept; rotation applied to the pixels |
| ExposureTime, FNumber, ISO 0x829a, 0x829d, 0x8827 | Exposure settings: shutter time, aperture and ISO speed. | Technical shooting conditions. Rarely personal on their own. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| Software 0x0131 | The name of the software or firmware that produced or edited the file. | Reveals which apps touched the file. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| Artist 0x013b | A free-text name of the photographer, if one was set. | Can be a real name. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| Copyright 0x8298 | A copyright notice, if one was set. | Usually contains a name. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| ImageDescription 0x010e | A free-text description of the picture. | Can hold names, places or other typed details. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| UserComment 0x9286 | A free-text comment field. | Can hold anything someone typed. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| SerialNumber (BodySerialNumber in the Exif spec) 0xa431 | The serial number of the camera body. | A number that can link photos to one physical camera. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| LensModel 0xa434 | The lens model. | Technical detail about equipment. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| LensSerialNumber 0xa435 | The serial number of the lens. | A number that can link photos to one physical lens. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| OwnerName (CameraOwnerName in the Exif spec) 0xa430 | The camera owner name, if one was set in the camera. | A name. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| ImageUniqueID 0xa420 | An identifier assigned to the image. | Can be used to match copies of the same picture. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| ThumbnailOffset (in IFD1) 0x0201 | A small preview image stored inside the metadata. The Exif specification provides a method for recording thumbnails. | It is a second copy of the picture, so it is worth removing along with the rest. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| GPSLatitude, GPSLongitude 0x0002, 0x0004 (GPS) | Latitude and longitude of the position, with N/S and E/W reference tags. | Can show where a photo was taken, for example a home or workplace. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| GPSAltitude 0x0006 (GPS) | Height of the position. | Adds detail to the location. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| GPSTimeStamp, GPSDateStamp 0x0007, 0x001d (GPS) | The time and date recorded with the position. | A second record of when you were at the location. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
| GPSImgDirection 0x0011 (GPS) | The direction the camera was pointing. | Adds detail to the location. | Removed: not copied into the new file |
The "why it can matter" column is our plain-language reading, not a statement from the standards. A single field such as the camera model is rarely sensitive. Combinations, such as a timestamp with coordinates, tell more.
How to check what a photo contains
On a Mac (Preview): Apple's Preview help says to open the photo in Preview, choose Tools, then Show Location Info, click the More Info Inspector button, then click GPS. This works only if the photo has location data. It shows location only, not the other fields.
In a browser: the file metadata viewer on this site lists the fields it can read from a JPEG, PNG or WebP file, in your browser tab, with no upload.
Windows: we did not find official Microsoft documentation for viewing or removing photo properties that we could read for this page, so we give no Windows steps.
What the PrivacyBench remover does
This section describes the code, not a promise about every file.
- It re-encodes the pixels. The browser decodes the image, draws it on an HTML canvas and saves a new file in the same format (JPEG, PNG or WebP). No metadata segment is copied from the original, so the EXIF, GPS, XMP, IPTC, comment and text blocks that the tool's reader recognises are not in the new file.
- Orientation is applied, not kept. The code asks
createImageBitmapforimageOrientation: 'from-image', which MDN documents as orienting the image by its EXIF orientation metadata when present (and the default). The tag itself is not written to the new file. - It checks its own output. After saving, the page re-reads the new file with the same reader and warns if it finds any non-technical field. The reader does not decode every possible field, so that is a check, not a guarantee.
- Nothing is uploaded. The component contains no network request. Files are read with the File API and processed in the tab.
- What the automated tests cover. A test builds a JPEG with EXIF, GPS, a thumbnail, XMP, IPTC and a comment, confirms the reader finds them, then decodes and re-encodes it with a different encoder (sharp) and confirms none of those byte markers or fields remain. That test is a stand-in for the in-browser canvas path, which is not covered by an automated test.
- Formats. JPEG, PNG and WebP only. HEIC, GIF, TIFF, AVIF and RAW are skipped.
Limits: what removal does not cover
- The picture itself. Faces, street signs, screens and landmarks are pixels, and re-encoding keeps them.
- The file name and where you share it. A name such as a date, person or place stays in your control only if you rename the file.
- Other metadata types. XMP is, per Adobe, a way to embed metadata into files themselves, and IPTC is, per its own description, a standard for administrative, descriptive and copyright information about images. Our reader looks for XMP and IPTC in JPEG, PNG and WebP and the remover does not copy them, but metadata in formats the tool does not support is untouched because those files are skipped.
- Quality. JPEG and WebP are compressed again, and the original colour profile is not kept, so colours and file size can change a little.
- Screenshots, social platforms and messaging apps. We have not verified what a screenshot contains on any device, and we did not read any platform's own documentation about how it treats metadata on upload, so this page says nothing about either. If it matters, check the file you actually send, for example with the viewer above.
- Not anonymity. Removing metadata removes information stored in the file. It does not make a photo anonymous.
Sources
Each page below was read on . We tried the Library of Congress, CIPA, ExifTool, Apple, MDN, IPTC and Adobe pages listed here and used only what they say.
- CIPA: Exif Version 3.1 (DC-008-Translation-2026): Names the current Exif version (3.1), its publication date (2026-01-30) and the previous edition (DC-008-2024).
- Library of Congress: Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format): Exif defines a pair of file types mainly for recording technical details of digital photography; JPEG metadata sits in APP1 and APP2 segments; thumbnails; camera settings.
- Library of Congress: Exif 2.2 format description: Tags include camera manufacturer, date and time, and picture-taking conditions.
- ExifTool: EXIF tag names: Tag names and hexadecimal IDs in the field table.
- ExifTool: GPS tag names: GPS tags are part of the EXIF standard and are stored in a separate IFD within the EXIF information; tag names and IDs.
- Apple Support: See where a photo was taken in Preview: Steps to view location data in Preview on a Mac, and that the command works only for images that contain location information.
- MDN: Window.createImageBitmap(): The imageOrientation option defaults to from-image, which orients the image by its EXIF orientation metadata when present.
- IPTC: Photo Metadata Standard: IPTC describes its standard as the industry standard for administrative, descriptive and copyright information about images.
- Adobe: Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP): XMP is a technology that lets you embed metadata into files themselves.
Cite this page as: PrivacyBench, “What Is in a Photo's EXIF Metadata?”, https://privacy.numbersplainly.com/photo-metadata-explained/, content dated 2026-11-11. Try the EXIF remover.