Turning off photo geotagging: share the memory, not the place

Lucy photographs her children in the garden, the birthday cake on the kitchen table, the first day of school in front of the gate. They are ordinary photos, full of affection, and she shares them often: with the grandparents, in the class parents’ group chat, sometimes in a post.

What almost nobody sees is a detail saved inside every shot: the exact spot where it was taken. Many phones record it automatically. Anyone who receives the original file, and knows where to look, can read the coordinates of home, of the school, of the park.

This recommendation — R32 of the Cyber Welfare Framework — invites you to make this decision yourself, instead of leaving it to the factory settings: turning off photo geotagging for the pictures you share, and keeping it on only when you really need it. It does not require technical skills. It takes five minutes in your settings and one extra habit before you send.

What this recommendation says

Recommendation R32 states that the photos and videos you share must not carry, without your knowing it, the location where you took them.

Two terms to clear up straight away:

• geotagging is the feature that adds to photos and videos the geographical coordinates of the spot where you took them;
• metadata is the information hidden inside the file that describes the photo: date, time, phone model and, if geotagging is on, the place as well.

In practice, the recommendation offers you three routes, to combine as you prefer:

• turning off location in the camera app, so new photos are created without coordinates;
• removing the camera’s permission to use your location, from your phone’s privacy settings;
• removing the location before you share, when a photo has already been taken with geotagging on.

What it is not. It is not a call to switch off your phone’s location for good: maps, navigation and emergency services need it, and when it makes sense to turn it off is covered by the recommendation on turning off Bluetooth and location when you are not using them. The topic here is narrower: the location that stays inside your photos. Nor is it a ban: if you love finding your travel memories on a map, you can keep it, as long as you decide when it leaves your phone.

Where it applies. To the photos and videos you send in chats, post on social media, upload to listings, forums or websites, share in joint albums or send by email. Above all, it concerns pictures taken in the places you go to every day: home, school, work, the gym.

Why it matters

A photo with its location saved is like a postcard with the sender’s address written in small print on the back. Whoever looks at it sees the view; whoever turns it over knows where it came from.

The mechanism is simple. When geotagging is on, the camera writes the phone’s location into the file, together with the date and time. Your gallery uses it to show your photos on a map, and that is a useful feature. The problem begins when the file leaves your phone: some sharing channels strip this data out, others keep it, and it is not always clear which is which. Sending a photo “as a file” or “as a document”, attaching it to an email, sharing it from a cloud service or uploading it to a website are all cases in which the location can travel along with the image.

A single photo says little. Many photos, gathered over time, say a lot: where you sleep, where you work, what time you take the children to school, when you are away on holiday.

The concrete consequences show up on four fronts:

• private places exposed — your home address, your children’s school, your workplace, worked out from precise coordinates;
• routines that can be pieced together — times and routes that repeat become readable to anyone who lines the photos up;
• absences signalled — holiday photos with their location, shared while you are away, also say that your home is empty;
• less control for you — once it has left your phone, the file can be forwarded, saved and shared again, and you can no longer decide who reads it.

One case deserves special attention: photos of children. They are the most widely shared, often in large groups, and often taken at home or near school. Here the location is the most sensitive piece of data, because it concerns someone who did not choose to share it.

A concrete example

One Saturday Lucy photographs her daughter taking her first wobbly ride on a bike, in the courtyard downstairs. The photo is lovely, and Grandma wants to print it. So as not to lose quality, Lucy sends it in the chat “as a file” instead of as a normal photo. Grandma forwards it, the same way, to a family friend, who uploads it to an album shared with other people.

Inside that file, the coordinates of the courtyard have stayed intact. Nothing serious has happened, and almost certainly nothing will. But the photo has reached, with its hidden address, people Lucy did not choose.

Now let us replay the same scene with a different setting. A few weeks earlier Lucy removed the camera’s permission to use her location. She took a test shot and, opening the photo’s information, checked that the place no longer appeared. For holidays, when she likes finding her photos on the map, she turns location back on and switches it off again when she gets home; before sharing one of those shots, she uses the option to remove the location.

The bike photo reaches Grandma just as sharp as before. Only now it carries the memory, and not the place.

When to apply it

The rule always applies to the photos you share, but there are moments when it makes a real difference.

• When you set up a new phone. During the first start-up, the phone asks for a series of permissions, including location for the camera. It is the easiest moment to choose calmly.
• When you take photos at home, at school or at work. These are the places that appear most often in your photos, and the most sensitive to reveal.
• When you sell something online. Photos of an item taken in your living room can carry your home address, and they end up in front of strangers.
• When you share with large groups. Parents’ groups, neighbourhood groups, clubs: photos travel further than it seems, and they get forwarded.
• When travelling, if you post in real time. If you keep location on for your memories, remove it from the photos you share while you are away; the story of the trip can wait until you are back.

How to apply it

You do not need to become an expert in settings. What you need is a short sequence, done once and checked again after a major update or a change of phone.

1. Decide what you want. Do you need location in your photos to find your memories on a map, or can you do without it? If you can do without it, turn it off. If you need it, keep it only for the moments when you really use it, such as trips, and always remove it before sharing.
2. Turn off location in the camera app. Many camera apps have, in their settings, an option such as “Location tags”, “Save location” or something similar. Turning it off means new photos are created without coordinates.
3. Check the camera’s location permission. In your phone’s privacy settings, under permissions or location, you will find the list of apps that can use your location. For the camera, choose “Don’t allow” or the equivalent option. It is the same logic you will find in the recommendation on checking what your apps can do.
4. Remember the other apps that take photos. Chat apps and social networks often have a built-in camera, with its own location permission. Have a look at those too.
5. Take a test shot. Take any photo, open it in the gallery and look at its information (usually by tapping “Details” or swiping up). If no place or map appears, the setting is working.
6. Remove the location from photos you have already taken, before sharing them. Many phones offer, on the share screen or in the photo’s information, an option to remove the location. The details, including for photos and albums you have already shared, are in the guide on how to remove location from photos.
7. Prefer sending “as a photo”. In many messaging apps, the normal way of sending compresses the image and removes its metadata, while sending it as a file or document keeps them. Use the original file only with people who really need it, and after removing the location.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Thinking it is enough to switch location off for a moment. Photos taken earlier keep their location, and when you turn it back on the camera starts recording it again.
• Assuming social media strips everything. Many services remove metadata from published images, but not every channel does it in the same way, and the rules can change. It is better for the location not to be there in the first place.
• Forgetting videos. Videos can record the place too, and the same settings apply.
• Forgetting shared albums and the cloud. An album with its map switched on, or a link to a folder of originals, shows the places to anyone who opens it.
• Believing that a photo without coordinates says nothing. A house number, a shop window or the school’s name on a sweatshirt reveal a place even without metadata: the post on tracking people through their photos looks at this. And if there is a ticket or a parcel in the frame, the recommendation on posting photos with QR codes applies as well.
• Confusing “hidden” with “without location”. Moving a photo to a hidden album protects it from curious eyes on your phone, but it does not change what the file contains when you send it. What those options really do is explained in the resource on how to hide photos on your phone.

How this connects to the Cyber Welfare Framework

R32 brings privacy into something you do every day without thinking: taking and sharing a photo.

Digital maturity levels.

• FL1 — Basic. Your photos save their location because that was the factory setting, and you share them without thinking about it. It is the most common starting point, not a fault.
• FL2 — Beginner. You have turned off location in the camera, or removed its permission, and checked with a test shot.
• FL3 — Autonomous. You also check the other apps that take photos, remove the location from photos already taken before sharing them, and prefer sending as a photo.
• FL4 — Skilled. You manage shared albums, the cloud and original files knowing what they keep, and you also pay attention to details in the background.
• FL5 — Expert-Guide. You help other people — in your family, among the class parents, in your team — do the same, kindly.

R32 is the key step from FL1 to FL2, and it remains an active habit at every level after that.

How to check you are applying it properly

Three questions, to be answered honestly.

1. If I open the information of the last photo I took, does a place or a map appear?
2. Do I know which apps on my phone can use my location when they take a photo?
3. When I share a photo taken at home, do I know whether the file carries my address with it?

Quick checklist

• ☐ My camera does not save the location, or saves it only when I decide
• ☐ I have checked with a test shot that the place does not appear
• ☐ I have also checked the location permission in the chat and social media apps that take photos
• ☐ Before sharing a photo I have already taken, I remove the location
• ☐ I send “as a file” only when needed, and after removing the location
• ☐ My shared albums do not show a map of places

If a box stays empty, you already have your next step. If you would like a more structured measure of where you stand, you can take the digital resilience self-assessment.

In short

Many phones save inside every photo the exact spot where it was taken. It is useful for finding your memories, but when the file leaves your phone the location can travel with it and reveal your home, the school and your routines to people you did not choose.

The solution is simple: turn off location in the camera app or remove its permission, check with a test shot, remove the location from photos you have already taken before sharing them, and prefer sending as a photo. If you need location for your trips, keep it, but decide for yourself when it leaves your phone.

Sharing your photos is still a lovely thing to do. The place, though, is your information, and it deserves to stay that way until you are the one who chooses to give it.

Something to think about. If someone put the last twenty photos you sent on a map, what would they learn about your week?

Explore this recommendation

This recommendation is the pivot of a content unit. Each post looks at a different aspect.

• Risks of location data in photos — what gets hit, in terms of the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your data and of your freedom to share
• When a photo reveals where you live — the concrete effects on the operational, financial, legal, reputational and personal levels
• How to remove location from photos — the mitigations, from the camera to photos and albums you have already shared
• Signs your photos share your location — the indicators to check and what they mean
• EXIF photo metadata — what photo files contain, what different channels remove, and the tools to check them
• Tracking people through their photos — the ways photos are used to locate and follow people

Related resources

Short reads from the Resources section, for anyone who wants to focus on a single aspect:

• App Permissions: Deciding What Each App Can Reach
• Hide Photos on Your Phone: What the Built-In Options Do
• Security and Privacy Settings: The Half Hour Worth Spending

Start with the first step: the Cyber Welfare Programme guides you free of charge, one recommendation at a time.