Remove Photo Location for Dating Apps

Last updated · 4 min read

Quick answer

In a 2024 study, Tinder, Bumble and Hinge stripped the location from photos before other users could see them, but MeetMe did not. Apps can change, and the study checked only the public copy. Clean your photos with WipePic before you upload them to any dating app.

What a dating photo can reveal

A photo that you took at home, at work or at your gym can carry the GPS position of that place. It can also show the date and time and the model of your phone. A stranger who gets the original file can read all of it.

Most people on a dating app do not know the other person yet. A location that a stranger can read is a safety risk, not only a privacy risk. Date and time can show your habits as well. If you post several photos, together they can show where you spend your days.

What the research says about dating apps

Researchers at KU Leuven, a university in Belgium, tested 15 location-based dating apps. They published the study at the USENIX Security Symposium in 2024, and they did the analysis in January 2023. One step was to upload a photo with EXIF data, such as GPS, and then to check if another user could still see the original EXIF data in that photo.

The result was clear. In the paper, the authors write that photos on MeetMe still contained the original EXIF metadata, which could leak the time or the place where the photo was made. They write that all the other apps strip the sensitive EXIF metadata. The list of tested apps includes Tinder, Bumble and Hinge.

There are limits. This was one test at one point in time. The researchers checked the copy that another user sees. They did not check what the app keeps. We also found no official statement about EXIF data from Tinder, Bumble or Hinge. So treat the result as good news about the past, not as a promise about today.

How to clean your dating photos with WipePic

  1. Pick the photos for your profile.
  2. Open WipePic in your browser.
  3. Add the photos. You can add up to 300 files, up to 50 MB each.
  4. Click a file to see what it holds. If it has GPS data, WipePic shows a dot on a small offline world map.
  5. Select Remove Metadata. WipePic works in your browser, so your photos are not uploaded.
  6. Download the cleaned photos. Several files come as one ZIP. Upload the cleaned copies to the app.

WipePic does not re-encode your photos, so your pictures look the same. It keeps the orientation and the color profile. It removes the location, the camera and phone model, the date and time, and other hidden data. For a photo that you only want to check, see how to check if a photo has a location.

More tips for dating profiles

  • Check the background. House numbers, street signs, car plates, work badges, a gym logo and a famous landmark can all show where you are.
  • Avoid your regular places. A photo at your front door or at your office is easy to trace.
  • Remember reverse image search. Anyone can search for your photo on the web. If you use the same photo on other sites, people may find those pages. WipePic cannot stop this.
  • Mind the distance setting. The distance in the app is not photo metadata. Look at the location and privacy settings of the app.
  • Clean photos for chats too. Photos that you send in a message can keep their metadata. Send cleaned copies.
  • Check photos from trips. A holiday photo can show the place and the date of your trip. If you do not want people to know where you went, clean it.
  • Check photos from friends. A photo that a friend sent you can carry the location of their phone. Clean it before you upload it.
  • Check edited photos. A photo that you edited in an app can list the app. Clean the final file.

Sources

Dhondt, Le Pochat, Dimova, Joosen and Volckaert, Swipe Left for Identity Theft: An Analysis of User Data Privacy Risks on Location-based Dating Apps, USENIX Security Symposium, August 2024 (apps analyzed in January 2023). Read on November 8, 2026.

Questions

Do Tinder, Bumble and Hinge remove the location from photos?

A study from KU Leuven, published in 2024, tested 15 dating apps in January 2023. The researchers uploaded a photo with EXIF data and checked the copy that another user could see. MeetMe still showed the original EXIF data. All the other apps, which include Tinder, Bumble and Hinge, stripped the sensitive data. We found no official statement from these apps, and apps change over time.

If the app strips the data, do I still need to clean my photos?

It is the safer choice. The study checked the copy that other users see. It did not check what the app does with the file that you upload. Photos that you send in a chat, by email or on another app may also be handled in a different way.

Does removing metadata hide my distance from other users?

No. The distance that dating apps show comes from the location setting of your phone and the app, not from your photos. The same study found that six of the 15 apps let the researchers work out a user’s near-exact location by other means. Check the location settings of the app as well.

Can someone still find me from my photos?

Yes. Removing metadata does not stop a reverse image search. It does not hide your face or anything that shows in the background, such as a street sign, a workplace or a gym.

Does it work for photos that I send in a dating chat?

Yes. Clean a copy of the photo with WipePic first and send that copy. The cleaned file does not carry the location, the date or the phone model.

Remove the metadata from your photos

Free. In your browser. Your photos do not go to a server.

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