Did you know that your pictures can be secretly sharing all kinds of information about you? Besides the actual data that makes up your photo, your digital camera, tablet, or smartphone also records a substantial amount of information, called metadata.
The term metadata became well-known following the Edward Snowden revelations about the NSA. In this instance, the NSA was storing information about phone calls, including the phone numbers involved and the length of the call. For your photos, the camera records information about the camera that was used, the date and time that the photo was taken, software programs used to edit the photo, and even the GPS coordinates (if GPS is enabled).
Some of this information can be very useful. If you want to recreate the scene from a photo you took two years ago, you can look back at this data to remember exactly where this picture was taken and what camera settings you used. However, if you take a picture inside your home and post it online, you might not want your home's GPS coordinates made public.
You can view the metadata on your photo by right-clicking on it, selecting properties, and then choosing the Details tab. This will tell you what type of data is stored on your photos. You can also go to the bottom of the tab and select "Remove Properties and Personal Information". This will allow you to either remove the information from these files or create a copy with the information removed. However, this Windows feature is not always successful.
Fortunately, you can use a free program called XnView. Like the Properties box, this program will show you all the metadata and wipe whatever you want gone. You can then recheck the file to make sure that the information has been deleted.
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