== exiftool version: 12.57 == step 0: create base JPEGs (no metadata) == created photo.jpg / thumb.jpg == step 1: write realistic EXIF (what a phone camera embeds) == == step 2: VERIFY BEFORE — what anyone who downloads the file sees == GPS Version ID : 2.3.0.0 GPS Latitude Ref : North GPS Latitude : 48 deg 51' 30.24" GPS Longitude Ref : East GPS Longitude : 2 deg 17' 40.20" GPS Altitude : 35 m Serial Number : SN-TEST-123456 Lens Serial Number : LENS-TEST-789 Make : TestCam Camera Model Name : TC-1 Software : CameraOS 9.9 Date/Time Original : 2026:07:06 12:00:00 -- GPS as decimal (what maps accept): GPS Latitude : 48.8584 GPS Longitude : 2.2945 -- embedded thumbnail present? Thumbnail Image : (Binary data 948 bytes, use -b option to extract) -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 948 Jul 6 11:13 extracted_thumb.jpg == step 3: STRIP with exiftool -all= (the canonical local strip) == stripped. == step 4: VERIFY AFTER — the step most guides skip == -- same queries, post-strip (empty output = actually clean): (no output above = no GPS, no serials, no thumbnail survive) -- byte sizes: 15611 photo.jpg 17121 photo_original.jpg -- remaining tags after strip (file-structure only, no identifying data): ExifTool Version Number : 12.57 File Name : photo.jpg Directory : . File Size : 16 kB File Modification Date/Time : 2026:07:06 11:13:43+00:00 File Access Date/Time : 2026:07:06 11:13:44+00:00 File Inode Change Date/Time : 2026:07:06 11:13:43+00:00 File Permissions : -rw-r--r-- File Type : JPEG File Type Extension : jpg MIME Type : image/jpeg Image Width : 1200 Image Height : 800 Encoding Process : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding Bits Per Sample : 8 == DONE 2026-07-06T11:13:44Z ==