How To: Scrub the EXIF Data from Photos on Your Android Phone Before Sharing Them

We've talked before about EXIF data—or metadata—attached to photos and how it can expose information about your location, what type of device you're using, and even the device or camera's unique identification number.

If you think it's not that big a deal, just ask John McAfee—his location was revealed when a Vice reporter uploaded a photo of the two without removing the EXIF data, which directly led to his arrest.

There are plenty of ways to get rid of the info on your computer, but what about your smartphone? If you're an Android user, there's an app called Image Privacy that strips the EXIF data from your photos before you share them in a message or post them to social media sites.

It does so by adding a simple, unobtrusive option to your phone's Share menu. When you install it, you'll still have all your normal sharing options, but there will be an added option to Strip metadata before sharing.

You'll still have a copy of the original photo, and a clean copy will be saved with "_stripped_" added to the title. From there, just choose to share the new photo and it will be sent or uploaded to your channel of choice.

So what about photos taken with an iPhone or camera?

I wasn't able to find any free apps for iPhone, but ExifRemover costs $1.99 and is similar to Image Privacy. For other photos, you can upload them to your computer and use Windows Explorer or a number of other programs to strip the metadata.

Know of any other apps for removing EXIF data from photos? Let us know in the comments below.