When you take a photo with your phone or camera, you don’t just create a picture. You create a file. That file contains the image you intended to capture — and a considerable amount of other information you probably didn’t think about when you pressed the shutter.
The format that file uses — HEIC, JPEG, or RAW — determines what gets stored, how it’s stored, and what survives if the file is converted, uploaded, or shared. Understanding the differences is directly relevant to understanding what different services learn about you from your photos.
The Three Formats, Defined
JPEG: The Universal Standard
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) has been the dominant photo format for personal photography for about three decades. It’s a lossy compression format — when a JPEG is created, some image data is discarded to reduce file size. JPEG is supported by essentially every device, service, browser, and application that handles photos.
Most older cameras and many Android phones default to JPEG. iPhones used JPEG as their default format until the introduction of HEIC.
HEIC: The iPhone Default
HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) became the default photo format on iPhones with iOS 11 in 2017 and is now how most iPhones capture photos unless the setting has been changed. HEIC is based on the HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format) standard, which was developed to provide better image quality at smaller file sizes than JPEG.
An HEIC file is typically about half the size of an equivalent-quality JPEG. This matters for storage: the same 64 GB of phone storage holds roughly twice as many HEIC photos as JPEG photos.
HEIC is a proprietary-friendly but not fully universal format. Most Apple devices handle it natively. Windows requires a codec to view HEIC files. Many photo services and social media platforms convert HEIC to JPEG on upload, sometimes stripping or altering metadata in the process.
RAW: Maximum Data Retention
RAW files are not a single format but a category: the unprocessed sensor data captured by a camera’s image sensor before any in-camera processing is applied. Canon’s RAW files are CR2 or CR3. Nikon uses NEF. Sony uses ARW. Apple’s ProRAW format is a RAW variant for iPhone.
RAW files are large — often 20 to 80 MB per photo for a modern mirrorless camera — but they contain the most complete image data of any format. They’re the master files from which you develop processed versions. They’re not directly viewable by most applications without dedicated software.
What Metadata Each Format Carries
The image itself is only part of what a photo file contains. EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) metadata is embedded in the file and travels with it whenever the file is shared or uploaded. The types of metadata each format carries are:
Location Data (GPS Coordinates)
If your phone’s camera has location access enabled — which is the default on both iPhone and Android — every photo you take includes precise GPS coordinates accurate to within a few meters. This applies to all three formats.
A photo taken at home includes your home address. A photo taken at a hospital includes that hospital’s location. A photo taken repeatedly in the same location creates a pattern map of where you spend time.
GPS data is embedded in the EXIF standard and is present in JPEG, HEIC, and RAW files when location access is enabled. It is not stripped by changing formats alone — converting HEIC to JPEG does not remove GPS data.
Timestamp
All three formats record when the photo was taken, down to the second. This is useful for organizing photos chronologically, and it’s also a data point about your daily patterns, your sleep schedule, and when you’re in specific locations.
Device Identification
EXIF data includes the camera make and model (e.g., “Apple iPhone 15 Pro”), the lens used, and in some cases a device identifier. This allows anyone with access to the photo to know what device took it — which can be used to link photos from the same device across different sources.
Camera Settings
Technical parameters — focal length, aperture, shutter speed, ISO — are recorded in all three formats. This is primarily useful for photographers reviewing their settings, but it’s also part of the comprehensive fingerprint a photo file creates about how it was taken.
HEIC-Specific Data
Beyond standard EXIF, HEIC files from modern iPhones can carry additional data that JPEG files don’t:
Depth maps. iPhone cameras with Portrait mode capture depth information alongside the image — data that can be used to separate foreground and background. This depth map is embedded in the HEIC file and is not visible as part of the image, but it contains spatial information about what was photographed.
Live Photo references. If the photo was taken as a Live Photo (with a short video component), the HEIC file contains a reference to the associated video file. The Live Photo video, if included when sharing, contains audio as well as video for a moment before and after the still image was captured.
HDR gain maps. Modern iPhones embed an HDR (High Dynamic Range) gain map in HEIC files that allows them to display correctly on HDR-capable screens. This is additional data within the file container that isn’t present in standard JPEG.
ProRAW computational data. Apple’s ProRAW format includes computational photography data from the iPhone’s neural processing — the raw sensor data alongside the processing decisions the camera made — which makes the files considerably larger than standard RAW files from traditional cameras.
RAW Files: Maximum Data, Maximum Exposure
RAW files contain the most data of any format. Along with comprehensive EXIF metadata, a RAW file contains every pixel the sensor captured, before any compression or processing removed information. When you upload a RAW file to any service, that service has access to everything the sensor recorded — more than you can see in the final image.
What Survives Format Conversion
One of the most practically important questions for privacy: when a photo is converted from one format to another, what metadata survives?
HEIC to JPEG Conversion
When an iPhone HEIC photo is converted to JPEG — whether by the phone when you share it, by an app, or by an online converter — the conversion process typically preserves the standard EXIF metadata: GPS coordinates, timestamp, device model, camera settings.
The HEIC-specific data (depth maps, Live Photo references, HDR gain maps) is generally lost in conversion, since JPEG doesn’t support those elements.
The critical point: GPS coordinates survive HEIC-to-JPEG conversion by default. Converting a photo from HEIC to JPEG does not strip location data. Anyone receiving the JPEG of a photo taken at a sensitive location still has that location in the file.
Conversion Through Online Services
When you use an online converter to convert HEIC files to JPEG — or any format-to-format conversion — two things happen: the conversion, and the upload of your original file to a third-party server.
That uploaded file contains whatever metadata the original had. The conversion service now has a copy of your photo, its location data, its timestamp, and device identification. Whether that data is used, stored, or analyzed depends on that service’s privacy policy — which most people don’t read before using a quick online converter.
For non-sensitive photos, this is a minor concern. For photos of medical appointments, home addresses, or private moments, it’s a more significant exposure than the convenience of converting a file format is likely worth.
Screenshots Strip Most Metadata
Taking a screenshot of a photo — on any device — creates a new file without the original photo’s EXIF metadata. The screenshot has its own timestamp and device metadata, but it won’t carry the GPS coordinates or camera model from the original photo.
This is sometimes used intentionally to share a photo without its location data: share a screenshot rather than the original file. The trade-off is that screenshots are lower quality than originals and don’t carry any of the original photo’s authentic metadata.
Social Media and Platform Conversion
Most social media platforms strip EXIF metadata when photos are uploaded and displayed. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter/X remove GPS data from uploaded photos, which is a user-protective default.
This stripping happens on the platform’s servers, not before upload. The platform receives the complete file with all original metadata, processes it, and serves a stripped version to viewers. The platform itself retains whatever data was in the original upload.
Choosing a Format With Privacy in Mind
The choice of photo format has implications for what you expose when you share or upload photos.
JPEG for general sharing: JPEG is the best format for sending photos to people or uploading to services where you don’t need the full original quality. JPEG is more universally supported, less likely to prompt format conversion by a receiving service, and doesn’t carry the HEIC-specific depth and computational data. For non-sensitive sharing, JPEG is the lowest-friction option.
Strip metadata before sharing: Whatever format you use, consider stripping EXIF metadata before sharing photos you don’t want associated with a location or device. On macOS, you can strip EXIF using Preview’s Export feature with the metadata option unchecked. On iPhone, third-party apps like Metapho allow viewing and removing EXIF data before sharing. Desktop tools like ExifTool provide batch stripping for large collections.
Keep RAW files as masters in private storage: RAW files are the most data-rich files in your library and should be treated as masters — the originals from which you produce processed copies. Uploading RAW files to any service gives that service access to the maximum amount of image data. If you store RAW files in cloud storage, the storage service you choose matters more than it does for compressed formats. A service with AES-256 encryption at rest and a clear policy against analyzing file content for advertising or AI training is a meaningfully better choice for RAW file storage than a service without those commitments.
Be deliberate about HEIC originals: If you’re uploading original iPhone photos that may contain depth maps, Live Photo data, or other HEIC-specific information, consider whether converting to JPEG before upload reduces the amount of data you’re handing to a storage service. The image quality difference for typical personal photos is negligible; the reduction in embedded data is real.
The Practical Implication
The format your photos are saved in determines how much data each photo file carries. GPS coordinates are embedded in all three main formats and survive most conversion processes unless explicitly stripped. HEIC adds Apple-specific computational data that isn’t present in JPEG. RAW adds the maximum possible sensor data.
When you upload photos to a service — any service — you’re uploading that data along with the image. The service receives it and stores it according to its policies.
The most direct privacy practice is: strip metadata you don’t want to share before you share it. Know what your camera is recording and make deliberate choices about what you expose. Choose storage services whose policies you’ve read and whose practices you trust with the files you’re uploading.
Format choice is a small lever, but it’s a lever you have.