PrivMeta EXIF/Metadata Privacy Based Tool

PrivMeta is a command-line utility for inspecting, cleaning, and modifying EXIF and metadata across images, PDFs, office documents, audio, and video files.

Metadata often contains more than you intend to share: exact GPS coordinates, timestamps, camera serial numbers, editing software history, and even embedded thumbnails of the original image. PrivMeta gives you full local control over this data layer. It makes no network requests, and it never modifies files without your explicit instruction.

---

---

[+] Features

Command	Action	Supported Formats
info	Inspect metadata, tag counts, and raw segments.	JPEG, PNG, WebP, PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, MP3, FLAC, MP4, MOV
clean	Strip EXIF, GPS, XMP, IPTC, ICC, and comments.	JPEG, PNG, WebP
fake	Inject realistic camera, lens, and GPS EXIF metadata.	JPEG, PNG, WebP
shred	Metadata destruction, re-encoding, and multi-pass overwrite for images.	JPEG, PNG, WebP, PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, MP3, FLAC, MP4, MOV

---

[+] What It Actually Does

• EXIF Stripping: Removes camera make, model, software, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and timestamps.
• GPS Removal: Removes latitude, longitude, altitude, and direction data.
• XMP/IPTC Deletion: Removes Adobe XMP XML segments and Photoshop IPTC blocks.
• ICC Profile Removal: Removes embedded color profiles, which may contain device-related information.
• Comment Stripping: Removes JPEG COM segments and PNG tEXt/zTXt chunks.
• Thumbnail Destruction: Removes embedded EXIF thumbnails, which may contain an image of the original scene even if the main image was cropped or edited.
• Fake Camera Injection: Generates plausible EXIF metadata using 40 camera profiles across Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Leica, OM System, Apple, Samsung, and Google. Generated values stay internally consistent: the selected lens constrains the focal length range, and aperture, ISO, and shutter values are drawn from the camera's realistic envelope.
• GPS Spoofing: Injects coordinates from 80 cities around the world, with configurable radius variance.
• Timeline Simulation: Distributes timestamps sequentially across multiple files to simulate a chronological event.
• Anti-Forensic Shredding: Re-encodes images to alter original quantization tables and encoder signatures.
• Multi-Pass Overwrite (images only): Repeatedly rewrites image files through sequential intermediate stages. PDF, Office, audio, and video files are rewritten once through their respective parsers.

[+] Performance & Security

• Zero Network Calls: Operates entirely offline. No analytics, crash reports, or external API calls.
• In-Memory Streams: Uses low-memory streaming where possible, helping it run on Termux and low-end devices.
• Minimal Core Dependencies: clean and fake require piexif and Pillow. PDF and audio support are optional add-ons.
• Mode Preservation: When --inplace is used, the original file's permission mode is restored on the resulting file.

---

[>] Quick Install

[i] Linux, macOS, and Termux

git clone https://github.com/tc4dy/privmeta.git
cd privmeta
./install.sh

[i] Windows Installation

git clone https://github.com/tc4dy/privmeta.git
cd privmeta
.\install.ps1

[i] Manual Installation

pip install .
privmeta --help

[!] Optional Dependencies

• pypdf — PDF metadata support.
• mutagen — Audio metadata support.
• ffmpeg — Video metadata support (system package).

---

[</>] Usage

Running privmeta without arguments opens an interactive menu. For scripting and automation, use the subcommands directly.

[>] Example Output

[i] Inspecting a file

$ privmeta info beach.jpg

──────────────────────────────────────
   PrivMeta EXIF/Metadata Privacy Tool
──────────────────────────────────────
   v0.1.3 | github.com/tc4dy

[+] beach.jpg [jpeg]
[>] 0th: 8 tags
[>] Exif: 14 tags
[>] GPS: 6 tags
[>] thumbnail: present
[>] segments: icc, xmp

[i] Cleaning a file

$ privmeta clean --all beach.jpg

──────────────────────────────────────
   PrivMeta EXIF/Metadata Privacy Tool
──────────────────────────────────────
   v0.1.3 | github.com/tc4dy

[>] plan: exif, gps, xmp, iptc, icc, comments, thumbnail
[+] cleaned: beach.jpg -> beach_cleaned.jpg
[+] done: 1 ok, 0 failed, 0 skipped, 0 dry

[i] Inspect

Check what metadata is attached to a file before modifying it.

privmeta info photo.jpg

Output lists the EXIF sections found, tag counts, the presence of a thumbnail, and raw metadata segments such as XMP and ICC.

[</>] Clean

Remove metadata without re-encoding the image, preserving the original image's pixel data.

privmeta clean photo.jpg

Remove specific fields while keeping others:

privmeta clean --drop gps,thumbnail photo.jpg
privmeta clean --keep exif photo.jpg

Strip metadata from files throughout a directory. Use -r to descend into subdirectories:

privmeta clean --all -r ~/Pictures/

[+] Clean Options

Flag	Description
--all	Remove every supported metadata field or segment.
--drop FIELD	Remove specific fields: exif, gps, xmp, iptc, icc, comments, or thumbnail.
--keep FIELD	Keep only specified fields and remove the rest.
-r, --recursive	Descend into subdirectories.
-o, --output-dir	Write results to a specific directory.
--inplace	Overwrite the original file.
--keep-backup	Create a .bak copy before using --inplace.
--rename	Rename output files using a neutral pattern, such as photo_0001.jpg.
--reset-time	Reset filesystem modification timestamps to a neutral date.
--dry-run	Show what would be removed without writing changes.
--fail-fast	Stop processing after the first error.

[+] Fake

Inject synthetic EXIF metadata. This can be useful for testing pipelines, simulating camera output, or generating sample files with controlled metadata.

privmeta fake --camera sony_a7iv --city istanbul photo.jpg

Simulate a trip with sequentially increasing dates and a regenerated thumbnail:

privmeta fake --camera fuji_x100v --city tokyo --date-range 2024-05-01:2024-05-07 --timeline --thumbnail photo.jpg

[+] Fake Options

Flag	Description
--camera KEY	Select a camera profile. If omitted, a random profile is chosen.
--city KEY	Inject GPS coordinates associated with a specific city.
--radius KM	Set the GPS variance radius around the city center.
--date-range START:END	Constrain timestamps to a specified ISO date range.
--timeline	Distribute timestamps sequentially across files.
--preserve	Merge new metadata with existing metadata instead of replacing it entirely.
--thumbnail	Regenerate the embedded EXIF thumbnail to match the newly injected metadata.
--seed N	Seed the random number generator for reproducible output.

[>] Available Camera Profiles (40)

canon_r10, canon_r3, canon_r5, canon_r50, canon_r6, canon_r7, canon_r8, fuji_gfx100ii, fuji_x100v, fuji_xh2, fuji_xt4, fuji_xt5, google_pixel_7, google_pixel_8_pro, iphone_13, iphone_14_pro, iphone_15, iphone_15_pro, leica_q2, leica_q3, nikon_z5, nikon_z50, nikon_z6ii, nikon_z7ii, nikon_z8, nikon_z9, olympus_om1, olympus_om5, panasonic_gh6, panasonic_s5, panasonic_s5ii, samsung_s22, samsung_s23, sony_a1, sony_a6700, sony_a7iii, sony_a7iv, sony_a7rv, sony_a7siii, sony_zv_e1

[>] Available Cities (80)

amman, amsterdam, ankara, antalya, athens, auckland, bangkok, barcelona, beijing, beirut, berlin, bogota, brussels, bucharest, budapest, buenosaires, bursa, cairo, capetown, casablanca, chicago, copenhagen, delhi, diyarbakir, dubai, dublin, edinburgh, gaziantep, helsinki, hongkong, istanbul, izmir, jakarta, karachi, kayseri, konya, kualalumpur, lagos, lima, lisbon, london, losangeles, madrid, manila, melbourne, mexicocity, miami, milan, montreal, moscow, mumbai, munich, nairobi, newyork, osaka, oslo, paris, porto, prague, rome, sanfrancisco, santiago, saopaulo, seattle, seoul, shanghai, singapore, stockholm, sydney, taipei, telaviv, tokyo, toronto, trabzon, tunis, vancouver, vienna, warsaw, wellington, zurich

[<>] Shred

Aggressive metadata destruction for scenarios where standard cleaning is insufficient. The command re-encodes images to alter original encoder signatures and performs multiple overwrite passes for image files.

privmeta shred --passes 3 --check photo.jpg

Re-encode the image at a specified JPEG quality:

privmeta shred --quality 95 photo.jpg

[+] Shred Options

Flag	Description
--passes N	Specify the number of overwrite cycles. More passes may increase processing time.
--quality N	Re-encode the image at a specified JPEG quality, altering its original encoding characteristics.
--check	Validate the resulting file for malformed metadata and inconsistent values.

---

[!] Privacy Notes

• [!] ICC Profiles: Removing an ICC profile can alter the perceived colors of an image, especially on wide-gamut displays. If color accuracy is important, use --keep icc when cleaning.
• [!] Timestamps: PrivMeta can reset metadata timestamps, but it cannot modify a file's inode change time (ctime) on Linux through ordinary file operations. This is an operating system restriction.
• [!] Backups: By default, output is written to a new file. If you use --inplace, consider enabling --keep-backup to retain the original.
• [!] Shredding Limitations: Re-encoding and overwriting data inside a file do not guarantee secure erasure of all previous copies. Filesystems, SSD wear-leveling, snapshots, backups, and journaling may preserve recoverable data outside the resulting file.