Why You Should Strip EXIF Metadata From Images Before Uploading to Your Website

Thanks Honda! You're spot on about the build pipeline part — stripping metadata + WebP conversion should really be automated, not a manual afterthought.

The GPS leak issue is worse than most people think too. I've seen cases where real estate agencies were unknowingly publishing their office coordinates in every listing photo. One quick exiftool pass or browser-based strip would have prevented that entirely.

For the WebP conversion side, the size savings are significant — we typically see 25-35% smaller files compared to JPEG at the same visual quality. Combined with metadata stripping, it's easily a 50-70% total reduction on a media-heavy page. That's the difference between a 3s and 1.5s LCP on mobile.

Appreciate the feedback!