Short explainers. Not a documentation wiki.
Understand what your files still carry
Metadata, location, and AI provenance get mixed together in search results. These pages separate the terms, then point to a local tool if you want to inspect a real file.
What do these learn pages explain?
Metadata, location, and AI provenance get mixed together in search results. These pages separate the terms, then point to a local tool if you want to inspect a real file. Photo & metadata: what information can sit inside a photo file?
C2PA: Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity; C2PA specification 2.4; RFC 8828: WebRTC IP Address Handling Requirements
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Photo & metadata
What information can sit inside a photo file?
Image metadata
EXIF, GPS, XMP, IPTC and C2PA are not the same layer.
EXIF metadata
Make, time, settings — and GPS only if it was stored.
GPS metadata
Latitude and longitude, only if the camera stored them.
Geotagging
File coordinates, a post pin, or a caption — pick which one you mean.
XMP metadata
Editor history, rights strings, extra fields beyond the camera EXIF.
XMP file (.xmp sidecar)
The small text file next to your RAW photo: edits, ratings, sometimes GPS.
IPTC metadata
Captions, credits, keywords — the newsphoto envelope.
Metadata stripping
Drop supported headers. Pixels and platform labels are another job.
AI & authenticity
Can a file say how it was made?
C2PA
A signed account of origin and edits — when it is still in the file.
Content Credentials
The readable provenance layer, usually backed by C2PA.
Content provenance
Where a file came from, and what changed — when a tool wrote that down.
AI watermarks
Credentials, pixel marks, and visible badges are not interchangeable.
SynthID
A Google DeepMind watermark in the media itself.
C2PA vs EXIF
Camera tags versus a signed provenance record.
C2PA vs Content Credentials
Specification versus the provenance badge people see.
Sharing & privacy
What can someone still learn after you send a file?
Can a photo reveal location?
GPS in the file is one path. The picture itself is another.
Screenshots and metadata
Original headers usually die. The pixels — and sometimes new tags — remain.
Social apps and metadata
Recompress is common. “Always stripped” is not a safe rule.
Does removing EXIF remove GPS?
Usually yes for the EXIF GPS IFD. Confirm the output file.
Browser & network
What can a page read before you upload anything?
Browser fingerprinting
Sites can recognize a browser again without storing a cookie.
Canvas fingerprinting
The hash comes from a drawing. It is not an identity card.
WebRTC and IP addresses
Host, reflexive, and relay candidates are not the same finding.
Incognito and fingerprinting
A private window is a fresh cookie jar, not a new GPU.
VPN and fingerprinting
The tunnel and the fingerprint are different layers.
Fingerprint after an IP change
Recognition can outlast the network path.
Browser versus file privacy
Stripping EXIF does not change WebGL.
Global Privacy Control
It asks sites to opt you out. It does not stop fingerprinting.