Is this safe to share?
Location, hidden tags and legible text, answered in one go.
Three separate things catch people out when they share a picture, and checking them one at a time is more work than anyone does before sending a photo. The file may record where it was taken. It may carry tags naming the camera and the moment. And the picture itself may have something legible in it that was never meant to travel. This asks all three at once and gives one answer.
What it checks
- Whether the file is really what its name claims.
- GPS coordinates written into the file, usually accurate to a few metres.
- Camera model, serial number and capture time in the tags.
- API keys, card numbers, emails and addresses legible in the picture.
What it does not do
- It changes nothing. It reads and reports.
- It points at the tool that fixes each thing it finds.
- It matches known shapes, so read the picture yourself as well.
- Nothing is uploaded, which is rather the point for a file you are unsure about.
Questions
What does a photo reveal about me?
Usually more than the picture. A phone writes the GPS coordinates, the exact time, the camera model and often its serial number into the file, none of which is visible when you look at the image. On top of that, anything legible in the picture — a screen, an envelope, a street sign — is readable by anyone who receives it.
Do social networks not strip this?
The large ones usually do, on upload, after the file has reached their servers. That does not help with a photo you email, put in a shared folder, attach to a listing or send in a message, which is where most files actually go.
Does it change my file?
No. This one only looks. Where it finds something it links to the tool that fixes it, so removing the tags or covering what is legible stays a decision you make.
Is a clean result a guarantee?
No, and it says so. It checks the things that go wrong most often and matches known shapes; a bespoke internal reference or something identifiable only in context will not be flagged. It is a second pair of eyes, not a replacement for the first.