1) What is image metadata (EXIF)?
Metadata is hidden information stored in image files (camera info, date/time, sometimes location).
2) Common metadata types
- EXIF: camera settings, date/time, sometimes GPS
- IPTC: captions, copyright fields
- XMP: editing history and descriptive fields
3) Privacy risks
GPS/location and timestamps can unintentionally reveal personal details. Removing metadata is a good practice before public sharing.
4) How to remove metadata
Use a dedicated “remove metadata” tool. Re-exporting images may also remove metadata, but can impact quality if re-encoded.
5) Best practice
Keep the original for archive, share a cleaned copy for the web.
6) FAQ
Metadata removal usually does not reduce quality unless you re-encode the image with different compression settings.