About ExifSweep
ExifSweep is a privacy-first metadata viewer and remover, built and operated by VICTA DIGITAL s.r.o. in Prague, Czech Republic. We made it because no existing in-browser tool stripped GPS, XMP, IPTC, and container metadata as thoroughly as we needed for our own use — so we built one, opened it, and run it as a sustainable independent product.
Why we built this
Metadata leaks were the recurring problem behind every "I shared a photo and it revealed something" story we read. Existing tools were either CLI-only (exiftool — powerful but unfriendly), platform-locked (ImageOptim, Mac-only), or uploaded files to a server (defeating the privacy point).
In 2025 we built the first version as an internal tool for our own photo-sharing workflow. The piexif-only JPEG strip leaked DeviceManufacturer fields we didn't expect, so we wrote our own XMP / ICC / IPTC / Adobe segment walker. That experience — finding the gap exiftool didn't document and the in-browser tools didn't close — became the product.
ExifSweep is what we wish had existed when we needed it: zero install, zero upload, every metadata field categorised by sensitivity, and a fair pricing model that pays for the bandwidth + cold storage of paid-tier server fallback.
Who runs it
ExifSweep is operated by VICTA DIGITAL s.r.o., a Czech limited-liability company registered in Prague. The founding team has shipped software in privacy, payments, and consumer web since 2018 — including data-residency platforms for European fintech and a payments stack handling € low-millions monthly.
We are a small team (under 10 people), self-funded, with no investor pressure to monetise user data. Our growth model is honest pricing — €3.49/month Pro, €4.79/month Plus — and that is the only money we ever take from a user. We do not sell aggregated data, run third-party advertising, or share file content with anyone.
Operationally we run on Vercel (compute), Supabase (auth + Postgres with RLS), Cloudflare (DNS + WAF + DDoS), Upstash (Redis rate-limit), Stripe (billing), and Resend (transactional email). Every secret is server-only; no third-party JavaScript runs on the user-facing pages.
How we handle your data
Three rules: (1) Files never persist to durable storage unless a paid-tier user explicitly opts into the server-side fallback. (2) No file content is logged. Audit events store hashed actor keys (fp:sha256 for anonymous, user:auth_uuid for signed-in). (3) Anti-abuse uses HMAC-hashed browser fingerprints, never raw IP, with monthly salt rotation.
We are a GDPR data controller. Subject access, deletion, portability, and objection requests resolve within 30 days at [email protected]. See /data-requests for the full process. We act as a CCPA service provider for users in California.
Postgres has row-level security enabled on every user-owned table. The service-role key only runs on server functions. The publishable Stripe key and Supabase anon JWT are the only credentials that ever reach the browser.
How we make decisions
Every product decision passes one test: does this preserve the user's ability to share a file without the file revealing more than they intended? Features that would weaken that — for example, a "free" tier funded by ads served via third-party JavaScript that gets access to filenames — get rejected on principle, even when the revenue is meaningful.
We publish a public roadmap, a public threat model (docs/SECURITY.md in our repo), and we keep the source of every metadata writer auditable. If you want to verify what we strip, look at src/lib/metadata/strip-* in the codebase.
Contact
General: [email protected].
Privacy and data-rights: [email protected] — staffed by the same person as general support, but logs and resolutions live in a separate ticketing track for compliance.
Security disclosures: [email protected]. PGP key on request. We do not currently run a paid bug bounty, but we respond to disclosed issues within 24 hours and credit responsible reporters on the website with permission.
Postal: VICTA DIGITAL s.r.o., Prague, Czech Republic. Full registered address available on request for legal correspondence.
FAQ
- Is ExifSweep a Czech company?
- Yes. ExifSweep is operated by VICTA DIGITAL s.r.o., registered in the Czech Republic. We are GDPR data controllers under EU jurisdiction.
- Is ExifSweep open source?
- Not fully open at the moment, but the metadata-writer modules (strip-jpeg, strip-png, strip-webp, strip-heic, strip-video, write-pdf, etc.) are available for security review on request. We may relicense parts under MIT in the future.
- Is the team in Czech Republic?
- The company is registered in Prague. The team is small (under 10) and distributed across Czech Republic with some remote contributors.
- How is ExifSweep funded?
- Self-funded — Pro and Plus subscriptions (€3.49 / €4.79 per month) are the only revenue. No investors, no acquisition pressure, no plans to add advertising.
- Who do I contact about a data-rights request?
- Email [email protected] from the address tied to your account. Include the request type (access, deletion, portability, objection, restriction) and your account email. Response within 7 days, resolution within 30 days.
- Can I trust that you don't see my files?
- You can verify it in your browser DevTools. Open the Network tab, drop a file into ExifSweep, run a cleanup. You will see two requests: POST /api/cleanup/token (issues an anti-abuse nonce, no file data) and POST /api/cleanup/redeem (consumes the nonce, no file data). No file bytes leave your device on the Free or Pro tiers.