PC Doctor August 3, 2018

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Dear PC Doctor:

I’m curious about location information that’s recorded with photographs that I take on my phone. Is there a way to eliminate that or keep it private, even if I share the photos?

Thanks,

Izzy

Dear Izzy:

By default, your smart phone embeds GPS coordinates into the photographs you take. If you view the photo’s properties and click “Details,” you will see listed the latitude and longitude where the photo was taken. Anyone who sees this information can look up the coordinates and know exactly what place the photograph depicts.

Some photo sharing services automatically strip geolocation information from your pictures. If this is a concern of yours, you can look at the settings for whatever services, apps, or social media sites you use and decide what you do and don’t wish to share.

You can also set your phone’s camera so that it does not record the location data:

If you have an iPhone, navigate from Settings to Privacy to Location Services to Camera. When you see the option to “Allow Location Access,” choose “Never.”

If you have an Android phone, the instructions vary depending on the model. You should be able to find instructions online for your specific phone and camera.

Until next time,
Happy Computing!
PC Doctor

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