Nice work. Client-side stripping is especially important for privacy, since you don’t have to trust a server with the original image.
I ran into a similar problem from the opposite angle and ended up building ExifLooter. It focuses on discovering EXIF and geolocation data at scale across image URLs and directories, integrates with OpenStreetMap for visualization, and also includes a metadata-removal feature for cleanup after analysis.
Interesting to see more tools pushing awareness that image metadata is still an underrated privacy leak.
Thanks for sharing, runtimepanic! ExifLooter looks really interesting! I like how it tackles EXIF and geolocation at scale and integrates with OpenStreetMap. That kind of tool is definitely complementary to what I built with MetaRefresh.
I completely agree... metadata leaks are still widely underestimated, and it’s great to see tools raising awareness while giving users control.
Agreed. In this case the bigger issue isn’t the tool itself, but awareness. Most people don’t even realize photo metadata exists or what it can expose. The decisions around sharing images get made without that context, and they rarely get revisited.
Good question! Most photo editors don’t give you full control over all metadata fields, like GPS, device info, timestamps, or custom tags. Also, most people don’t even know how to remove it manually. MetaRefresh lets you strip or edit everything client-side, and we offer an auto-edit mode for convenience.
Nice work. Client-side stripping is especially important for privacy, since you don’t have to trust a server with the original image.
I ran into a similar problem from the opposite angle and ended up building ExifLooter. It focuses on discovering EXIF and geolocation data at scale across image URLs and directories, integrates with OpenStreetMap for visualization, and also includes a metadata-removal feature for cleanup after analysis.
Interesting to see more tools pushing awareness that image metadata is still an underrated privacy leak.
Also it is official on Kali Linux.
- https://github.com/aydinnyunus/exiflooter?tab=readme-ov-file...
Thanks for sharing, runtimepanic! ExifLooter looks really interesting! I like how it tackles EXIF and geolocation at scale and integrates with OpenStreetMap. That kind of tool is definitely complementary to what I built with MetaRefresh.
I completely agree... metadata leaks are still widely underestimated, and it’s great to see tools raising awareness while giving users control.
If it's fully client-side, why do I need to sign up for an account..?
I've seen this happen a lot — tools aren’t the problem, it's the decisions around them that never get revisited.
Agreed. In this case the bigger issue isn’t the tool itself, but awareness. Most people don’t even realize photo metadata exists or what it can expose. The decisions around sharing images get made without that context, and they rarely get revisited.
does it do anything you can’t do in a photo editor?
Good question! Most photo editors don’t give you full control over all metadata fields, like GPS, device info, timestamps, or custom tags. Also, most people don’t even know how to remove it manually. MetaRefresh lets you strip or edit everything client-side, and we offer an auto-edit mode for convenience.
Even if not, a photo editor is usually nonfree and/or is a pain in the ass to download and install.
Totally, that’s exactly why I made it. No installs, no downloads, and free. Metadata cleanup in seconds, zero hassle.
but if it runs entirely client side, why not just distrubute it as a standalone app?