This Android metadata removal utility allowed me to escape creepy internet tracking bugs

I used to post carelessly on social media when I was younger.

Now, having grown into the technology space and interning with a youth privacy community, I'm shocked by how ignorant I used to be about my data.

In June 2026, I went through old accounts and cleaned out files generated close to home. I learned how easily EXIF information exposed my activity and location.

I'm more deliberate about my online identity. I use Android's best tools on my mobile devices to hide from attackers.

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Posts By  Edgar Wulf

My selfies secretly snitched on where I shot them

So I buried the evidence

Internet Safety Month ended in June in the US. As part of my service with a youth privacy community, I put together a carousel of facts about digital privacy for our audience.

Researching it shocked me. In particular, a 2025 study found that for highly identifiable users, just four anonymous location points were enough to reconstruct 96% of their physical trips.

Tracking systems cross-reference the streams and paint a detailed portrait of who you are, where you live, what devices you use, and when you're most active.

It's unsettling because data brokers profit off the information.

Even though the profiles are anonymous, experts can later link them back to real individuals.

It's a similar mechanism that helped the American police place Okello Chatrie near a bank in Virginia during a 2019 robbery.

Google had shared with them location data for every device detected near the bank during the incident. The data landed him on the suspect list.

Likewise, cameras embed EXIF data in a photo immediately when you press the shutter button.

It may include the GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken, the date and time, device model, and camera settings like aperture or shutter speed.

Simply looking at the image doesn't reveal the information. But anyone with access to the original file can pull it up.

On Android, you can even view user-facing metadata slices like the file date, resolution, size, and sometimes location if enabled.

Open an image or file in your file manager. Then tap the three-dot button or information icon beside it, and select File info.

In the worst-case scenario, I imagined a random stranger peeking into the GPS coordinates on my old selfies and ending up at my doorstep.

It was disturbing enough to make me act.

Termux knows my files on a deeper level

It commands unwanted information to leave my system

Clearly, I've underestimated the importance of the Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF).

The good news is that EXIF data embeds aren't permanent. I use an alternative camera app to remove them.

Secure Camera automatically strips the metadata without manual cleaning needed for each photo after shooting.

Some third-party Android manufacturers made it a native feature, so you may not need a separate app.

XOS 16, which runs on top of Android 16 on my phone, made it possible to use Location Information Protection. There's a dedicated privacy menu under Privacy Protection Strategies in Settings.

The feature bundles safe file sharing and blocking location permission when apps aren't in use.

I take the extra measure of running ExifTool through Termux to be on the safe side. The free Android app turns my phone into a mini Linux computer.

I regularly use it to download images and videos from websites using either wget and yt-dlp commands or the Python language.

There are many things the app can do. For example, the ExifTool command-line program erases metadata traces.

Shell command lines:
wget https://github.com/exiftool/exiftool/archive/refs/tags/13.55.tar.gz -O ExifTool-13.55.tar.gz — downloads the ExifTool archive from GitHub.
tar -xzf ExifTool-13.55.tar.gz — extracts the downloaded archive.
ls — lists all files and folders in the current directory.
termux-setup-storage — grants Termux permission to access your phone's storage.
cd /sdcard/FolderName — navigates into the folder where targetted file lives. Replace FolderName with the real folder name.
perl ~/exiftool-13.55/exiftool filename.jpg — reads and prints all metadata from the file. Replace filename.jpg with the real name of your file, including its extension.
perl ~/exiftool-13.55/exiftool -all= -overwrite_original filename.jpg — strips metadata from the file permanently and overwrites it without creating a backup copy. Replace filename.jpg with the file name.

It presented some technical trials, but I passed them

It makes me feel like a programmer

I ran the pkg install make command in Termux first. It prepares the environment to compile or build software. Otherwise, they don't arrive in a ready-to-run form in the app.

Then I ran the wget line alongside the project's GitHub release URL to download the ExifTool archive. The app fetched the 8MB file successfully, after which I extracted it and confirmed the folder name.

Running ExifTool required granting Termux storage access. Without it, the app could see the filename but not open it.

With permissions sorted, I pointed ExifTool at the folder where I'd moved my geotagged photos and the exact file.

On one occasion, the tool outlined the software I used to edit an image file, the modification date and time, color profile data, dimensions, encoding details, and embedded editing history, including which tools and brushes I used inside the app.

I ran the strip command and wiped it all.

It was even more relieving to test ExifTool on other file types.

A file carried Multi-Picture Format (MPF) data, GainMap binary data, and other embedded fields before the process.

Afterward, only the bare file system information the operating system generates remained.

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By  Conor Cawley

Leave a cleaner digital footprint

I'm more confident in what I share online now.

Even if a tracking bug intercepts a file I send, most of the information it needs to feed on has already been wiped before leaving my phone.

That said, stripping metadata doesn't make me invisible. It's why I'm taking extra steps to scrape and clean up broader trails I've left behind on the internet.

Tools like Google's Results About You and PrivacyHawk have also become part of my efforts.

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