You can also remove the embedded EXIF data before sharing potentially sensitive photos. If you want to disable adding GPS data entirely, you can go into your phone’s Camera app and disable the location setting. RELATED: What Is Metadata? How to Stop Embedding GPS Coordinates in Your Photos A phone or digital camera may just have been using its last known location if it couldn’t get an up-to-date GPS signal while taking the photo. It’s also possible for the GPS location to be off a bit. Keep in mind that this is just metadata and could be faked, but it’s pretty rare that someone would bother to fake metadata instead of stripping it entirely. Google offers instructions for properly formatting the coordinates for Google Maps. Many mapping services offer this feature-you can plug the coordinates straight into Google Maps, for example. These are standard GPS coordinates, so you just need to match them to a location on a map to find where the photo was actually taken. RELATED: How to Remove The Hidden Personal Information Microsoft Office Adds to Your Documents Match the Coordinates to a Location on a Map If you don’t see these details, they’ve been stripped from (or never included in) the image file. Many image-sharing services online-but not all of them-automatically strip the geolocation details for privacy reasons. The person who took the photo may have disabled this feature on their phone or manually removed the EXIF details afterward. GPS coordinates are not embedded in every single photo. You can also open the image, click the “i” button at the top, click the “i” button that appears in the new popup, then select the “GPS” tab. In macOS, right-click the image file (or Control+click it), and select “Get Info.” You’ll see the Latitude and Longitude coordinates under the “More Info” section. You’ll need to manually add those in when you enter the coordinates into your favourite map software. If you live below the equator, your latitude coordinates should have a negative in front of them or an “S” (for South) following them. If you live in the western hemisphere your longitude coordinates should have a negative sign preceding them, or a “W” (for West) following them. Note: The Properties window in Windows 10 and Windows 11 will not correctly display GPS coordinates. In Windows, all you have to do is right-click a picture file, select “Properties,” and then click the “Details” tab in the properties window. Look for the Latitude and Longitude coordinates under GPS.
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