If this sounds like your week
EXIF is a file format feature that became a privacy footgun.
“Strip DateTimeOriginal drift on copies before cloud upload” is not about hating metadata; it is about controlling it with tools that match the stakes. Editors shipping folders often inherit embedded attribution and location fields that downstream contracts forbid.
Where tooling usually breaks
Copy-paste forum advice does not scale to 20,000 frames.
One wrong flag, one missed field, one “it looked fine in Preview” moment is enough.