If location services are turned on for the Camera app on your iPhone or iPad, every photo you take includes GPS information about where it was taken. Starting with iOS 13, however, you can choose to share photos without location data.
Turn off location data when sharing a photo (or a group of photos)
To get started, open the Photos app and find a photo (or photos) you want to share without location data. To share multiple photos, select and tap each one, then tap the Share button. To share a single photo, tap it, then tap the Share button at the bottom left.
In the Share menu that appears, tap “Options” at the top of the screen (it’s under the number of photos you’ve selected).
If you see “Location included” next to “Options”, it means that location data is currently enabled for that photo (s). We’re about to change that, however.
On the Options menu that appears, locate the “Include” section. Disable the “Location” option for the selected photos.
If you don’t see the ‘Location’ option here, then location data is either disabled for the Camera app (see below) or there is no location data associated with that particular photo.
Press “Done” to return to the Share menu. You should now see “No location” below the photo selection message.
Now, whether you share your photo via text, email, or an app, no location data will be included.
Keep in mind, however, that this method will only work for this one instance. The location information for the photo is still stored on your iPhone. If you want to share it again in the future without location information, you will have to repeat the above process.
Soon: How to see which apps are tracking your location on iPhone
Even better: turn off location in the Camera app
If you frequently turn off location data before sharing photos, you might consider turning them off in the Camera app. This way, none of your new photos will include location data.
To turn off access to the camera location, open “Settings,” then go to Privacy> Camera. In the “Allow access to the location” section, tap “Never”.
Note, however, that you will no longer be able to take advantage of features that rely on location data after this operation. For example, the Photos app won’t be able to show where you took your photos on a map or group the photos you took by location.
While the photos you take in the future will not include GPS metadata, any photos you took before turning off this feature will still include it.
If you want to permanently delete the location data from the photos you have already taken, you will need to use a utility that will allow you to edit or remove the EXIF metadata of each photo. This process can be confusing, so it’s usually best to leave it as a last resort for situations where maintaining confidentiality is extremely important.
Stay safe and good luck!
