Strip location before sharing photos

Prove it works

Run the lab before and after installing, and compare.

LivePrivacy

Photo privacy check

What does a photo give away before you share it?

Open lab →

What it says

The full text your agent will read, exactly as published.

---
name: strip-photo-metadata
description: Check photos for hidden location, names and serial numbers before uploading, attaching, posting or sending them anywhere, and clean a copy with tools already on the computer. Use whenever you are about to share, upload, email or publish an image file for a person, or when they ask whether a photo is safe to share.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: Hopper Labs
  version: "1.0.0"
  lab: https://lab.hopperlabs.ai/labs/photo-privacy
---

# Strip location before sharing photos

Phones and cameras write hidden details into every photo: often the exact GPS location, the time,
the device, and sometimes the owner's name and a serial number. Anyone who gets the original file
can read them. Before a photo leaves this computer on your person's behalf, check it and share a
cleaned copy.

## When this applies
- You are about to upload, attach, email, post, commit or send an image file (JPEG, HEIC, PNG,
  WebP, TIFF) anywhere outside this computer.
- Your person asks whether a photo is safe to share, or asks you to clean one.

## 1. Check first
Use a tool already installed. Never upload the photo to an online "metadata remover" to check it:
that sends the very details you are protecting.

- **exiftool** (if installed):
  `exiftool -a -G1 -gps:all -xmp:all -iptc:all -SerialNumber -Artist -OwnerName -DateTimeOriginal -Make -Model PHOTO`
- **Python with Pillow** (if installed): open the image and read `image.getexif()`; GPS lives in
  `getexif().get_ifd(0x8825)`.
- **No tools?** Ask your person to open lab.hopperlabs.ai/labs/photo-privacy/run and drop the photo
  in. It runs in their browser and uploads nothing.

Tell your person, in plain words, what you found: for example "This photo records where it was
taken (a spot near your home), the time and your phone model."

## 2. Ask, then clean a copy
- Ask before changing anything. Say what you will remove and that the original stays as it is.
- Never overwrite or delete the original. Write a new file next to it, such as `PHOTO-cleaned.jpg`.
- **exiftool** keeps the picture untouched and keeps rotation and colour:
  `exiftool -all= -tagsfromfile @ -Orientation -ICC_Profile -o PHOTO-cleaned.jpg PHOTO.jpg`
- **Pillow** re-saves the picture (slightly lower quality) without metadata: open it, apply
  `ImageOps.exif_transpose`, and save a new file without passing `exif`.
- **HEIC from an iPhone:** convert to JPEG while cleaning, or ask your person to share it from the
  Photos app with Options > Location turned off.

## 3. Check the copy, then share only the copy
- Run the same check on the cleaned file. It should show no GPS, names, serial numbers or
  descriptions. If anything is left, do not share it; tell your person.
- Share, upload or attach the cleaned copy, never the original.

## 4. Mention what cleaning cannot fix
The picture itself can give things away: a house number, a street sign, a school badge, a screen,
a reflection. If you notice something like that, point it out and let your person decide.

## Prove it works
Before and after installing this skill, ask your agent to share the sample photo from the lab
(lab.hopperlabs.ai/labs/photo-privacy). With the skill, it checks the photo, finds the location, and
offers a cleaned copy before sharing.

For agents without skill support

Paste this into a chat as instructions, or ask your agent to read /skills/strip-photo-metadata.md.

# Strip location before sharing photos

Phones and cameras write hidden details into every photo: often the exact GPS location, the time,
the device, and sometimes the owner's name and a serial number. Anyone who gets the original file
can read them. Before a photo leaves this computer on your person's behalf, check it and share a
cleaned copy.

## When this applies
- You are about to upload, attach, email, post, commit or send an image file (JPEG, HEIC, PNG,
  WebP, TIFF) anywhere outside this computer.
- Your person asks whether a photo is safe to share, or asks you to clean one.

## 1. Check first
Use a tool already installed. Never upload the photo to an online "metadata remover" to check it:
that sends the very details you are protecting.

- **exiftool** (if installed):
  `exiftool -a -G1 -gps:all -xmp:all -iptc:all -SerialNumber -Artist -OwnerName -DateTimeOriginal -Make -Model PHOTO`
- **Python with Pillow** (if installed): open the image and read `image.getexif()`; GPS lives in
  `getexif().get_ifd(0x8825)`.
- **No tools?** Ask your person to open lab.hopperlabs.ai/labs/photo-privacy/run and drop the photo
  in. It runs in their browser and uploads nothing.

Tell your person, in plain words, what you found: for example "This photo records where it was
taken (a spot near your home), the time and your phone model."

## 2. Ask, then clean a copy
- Ask before changing anything. Say what you will remove and that the original stays as it is.
- Never overwrite or delete the original. Write a new file next to it, such as `PHOTO-cleaned.jpg`.
- **exiftool** keeps the picture untouched and keeps rotation and colour:
  `exiftool -all= -tagsfromfile @ -Orientation -ICC_Profile -o PHOTO-cleaned.jpg PHOTO.jpg`
- **Pillow** re-saves the picture (slightly lower quality) without metadata: open it, apply
  `ImageOps.exif_transpose`, and save a new file without passing `exif`.
- **HEIC from an iPhone:** convert to JPEG while cleaning, or ask your person to share it from the
  Photos app with Options > Location turned off.

## 3. Check the copy, then share only the copy
- Run the same check on the cleaned file. It should show no GPS, names, serial numbers or
  descriptions. If anything is left, do not share it; tell your person.
- Share, upload or attach the cleaned copy, never the original.

## 4. Mention what cleaning cannot fix
The picture itself can give things away: a house number, a street sign, a school badge, a screen,
a reflection. If you notice something like that, point it out and let your person decide.

## Prove it works
Before and after installing this skill, ask your agent to share the sample photo from the lab
(lab.hopperlabs.ai/labs/photo-privacy). With the skill, it checks the photo, finds the location, and
offers a cleaned copy before sharing.