September 20, 2026 · fileo Compress

EXIF, GPS, and why a “free compressor” that uploads is a gossip

A JPEG from an iPhone is not just pixels. It is often GPS, altitude, lens, and a thumbnail. Journalists have been burned by this for a decade. People still drag the original into a random compressor because the landing page said “secure SSL.” SSL protects the ride. It does not choose the destination.

What canvas stripping actually does

When we draw the image to a canvas and export, the new file is a new JPEG/WebP/PNG. The EXIF bag does not come along. That is not an extra “privacy feature” we bolted on; it is how browsers work. It is also why we cannot offer “keep copyright EXIF but drop GPS” — we would need a metadata library and a reason to upload. We don’t.

When you should not use any website

If the photo is evidence, medical, or covered by a contract that forbids third-party processors, use an offline tool (ImageOptim, Squoosh downloaded, or the phone’s own export). fileo Compress is offline in spirit (no upload) but it is still JavaScript you did not audit line by line. For most product and blog photos, that bar is enough. For a crime scene, it is not.

How to verify us

Open DevTools, Network, disable cache, drop a 2 MB photo, compress. You should not see the image leave. Then open the download in any EXIF viewer. GPS should be gone. If either check fails, stop using the page and tell us.

Thumbnails inside JPEG

Some files carry a 160×120 preview in the metadata. It is small, but it is still a copy of the scene, sometimes with location still attached in the main EXIF even if you cropped the pixels in a sloppy editor. Canvas export drops the whole bag, thumbnail included. That is the behavior you want for publishing. It is the opposite of forensic work, where you must preserve the original bitstream. Do not confuse the two jobs.