Before sharing photos and videos it is important to make sure you’re not revealing too much data about yourself within the EXIF data.
Photos taken by your phone can contain a treasure trove of data like the exact GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken, the make and model of phone (which could be used to target you with malicious software), and more.
To see what you’re revealing in your media’s EXIF data there are many apps for every operating system.
There are also websites like https://www.get-metadata.com/ that allow you to upload your photos and videos to see what information they contain.
Use at your own risk
It is recommended to run your photos and videos through an EXIF data remover before sharing.
When uploading to social media this data is often removed during the compression phase, however, those tech companies likely still hold on to this data. As you’ve come to learn they’re not exactly friendly toward us.