MAT2 (Metadata Anonymisation Toolkit 2) removes embedded metadata from images, PDFs, audio files, office documents, and more. It runs as a CLI tool or as a file-manager extension for Nautilus and Dolphin on Linux.
Reviewed by Gabriel Bachmann
MAT2
github.com/jvoisin/mat2 1 rating so far*
Rate MAT2: No account needed
Threat level
Hardened
A hardened pick. Worth the effort once you have chosen to shrink your footprint on purpose. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
Metadata in ordinary files (GPS coordinates in photos, author names in PDFs, recording device in audio) is a routine privacy leak that most people never check. MAT2 handles it cleanly across a wide format range and integrates directly into Nautilus and Dolphin for right-click stripping without opening a terminal. Development has gone quiet and the repository is now archived, so treat it as stable and finished rather than actively maintained. It does the job well for Linux users; Windows and Mac users will need ExifTool or an alternative.
GitHub at a glance
jvoisin/mat2
Stars
307
+ 14 this week
Last commit
1mo ago
healthy
License
LGPL-3.0
Latest release
0.14.0
9mo ago
Stars, last 31d
MAT2 alternatives
ExifCleaner Removes metadata for the most popular image and video formats. It also supports PDF files and comes with batch-processing to process multiple files at once. Drag and Drop…
ExifEraser File support: JPEG, PNG and WebP.
Metapho Strips out metadata or remove location data only. Share without metadata just before sharing.
ExifTool ExifTool is a long-standing Perl library and command-line tool for reading, writing, and erasing metadata across an exceptionally wide range of file formats, including JPEG, RAW camera formats, PDF, video, audio, and Office documents.
MAT2 license, in plain English
LGPL-3.0 Weak copyleft
Closed-source software is allowed to link to this library, but changes to the library itself must be shared under the same license.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- Disclose source
- Same license (library)
- State changes
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Weak copyleft protects the project's own files: improvements to them stay open, while the code can still sit alongside closed-source software.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.
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