iPhone Photos: Stop Sharing Your Location in 2 Minutes
Photos can carry the exact place they were taken. Remove the location before you share, decide whether the Camera saves it at all, and limit which apps see your library, in two minutes.
CasperVPN Team
October 27, 2026
Most iPhone photos quietly record where they were taken, down to the street. That is handy in your own library, and less handy when a picture of your front door goes to a group chat or a marketplace listing. Two minutes fixes it.
1. Remove the location when you share
Open a photo and tap Share. At the top of the share sheet, under the photo count, tap Options and switch off Location. The copy you send no longer says where it was taken; the original in your library keeps it. The setting applies to that share, so check it each time you send something sensitive.
2. Decide whether the Camera saves location at all
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera. Choose Never if you do not want new photos to record a place. Choose While Using the App if you like the map in your library and will remove the location when sharing instead.
3. Check which apps can see your photos
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Photos. Each app shows Full Access, Limited Access or None. An app with full access can read every photo and the location stored in it. For apps that only need to post the odd picture, choose Limited Access and pick just those photos.
4. Lock the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums
Open Settings > Apps > Photos (on older iOS versions, Settings > Photos) and make sure Use Face ID (or Use Passcode) is on. Your Hidden and Recently Deleted albums then need Face ID or your passcode to open, even when the phone is unlocked.
5. Look at Shared Albums
In the Photos app, open your shared albums and check who is in each one. Remove people you no longer want to share with, or delete albums you do not use anymore.
What a VPN changes, and what it does not
A VPN encrypts the connection between your phone and the VPN server, so the Wi-Fi network and your internet provider cannot see which sites and apps you talk to. It does not remove the location stored inside a photo: once you send the file, the person who gets it can read it. These settings cover that part. More on the limits: What a VPN cannot protect you from.
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CasperVPN encrypts your internet connection with WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2 and CasperCloak, our own protocol, on iPhone and iPad (Mac app coming). Download CasperVPN →
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