What Is EXIF Metadata, and What Does Your Photos Reveal?

Every photo your phone or camera takes carries a small file of hidden data alongside the pixels: EXIF metadata. It records things like the camera model, exposure settings, and — if location services were on — the exact GPS coordinates of where the picture was taken.

Most of the time this is harmless, even useful: photographers rely on EXIF to review their settings, and photo apps use it to sort pictures by date automatically. But shared carelessly, GPS tags in a photo can reveal a home address or daily routine.

Tools like filesaudit.com let you inspect exactly what a file exposes before you send it anywhere — camera info, timestamps, software used, and GPS coordinates when present — so you can decide what to keep and what to strip.