Identifiers in Ray-Ban Meta photo files
The Ray-Ban Meta photos checked for this reference are HEIC files containing a set of identifier fields that exiftool lists in under 200ms. The fields name the device and the capture, and any software that opens the file can read them.
Container format
These photos use the HEIC container, which is built on ISOBMFF (the same box-based format family as MP4 and QuickTime). Identifier fields are located in metadata items referenced from the top-level meta box:
| Location | Purpose |
|---|---|
meta > iinf > infe (Exif) |
EXIF metadata item. Points into mdat where the actual EXIF payload lives |
meta > iinf > infe (mime XMP) |
XMP metadata item. In the photos checked it holds dates |
The EXIF payload itself follows the standard TIFF/EXIF directory structure: IFD0 for image-level fields and ExifIFD for photo-specific fields. The photos checked carry no GPS directory and no MakerNote block.
Identifier reference
Read from two photos taken on one pair of glasses:
| Field | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Make | IFD0 | Meta AI |
| Model | IFD0 | Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses |
| SerialNumber | ExifIFD | The same in both photos |
| UserComment | ExifIFD | An ID, different in each photo |
| DateTimeOriginal | ExifIFD | Capture timestamp, with sub-second fields beside it |
| Creation and modification dates | XMP item | Dates only |
What the fields decide
These fields name the device and the capture. Removing them removes that information from the file.
Whether removing them also removes Instagram’s “Made with Ray-Ban Meta” label from a photo has not been tested here. CrunchBox’s label tests cover video on Instagram Stories, where removing the metadata was not enough. Those results do not carry over to photos.
Scrubber scope
HEIC metadata scrubbing cannot use the byte-level surgery approach that works for JPEG (drop the APP1 EXIF segment) or MOV (remove udta/meta/uuid boxes and patch parent headers). HEIC’s meta box holds iinf/iref/iloc pointers into the image data. The image items themselves are addressed by offset. Removing a metadata item without patching every downstream offset produces an unreadable file.
Strip Photo Meta handles HEIC by decoding the image in the browser and re-encoding the pixel data as JPEG. The output is a JPEG that carries none of the source photo’s EXIF, XMP, or GPS data. This is a lossy re-encode; the pixel content is preserved but not bit-identical to the source. JPEG and PNG inputs continue to use bit-preserving byte-level chunk removal.
Scrubber limits
Scrubbing does not remove:
- What is visible in the picture
- Any watermark or overlay burned into the pixels at capture time
- Ambient identifiers visible in the frame (reflections, background elements, timestamped displays)
Anything a platform reads from the picture itself is unaffected by metadata scrubbing.
Related
- Identifiers in Ray-Ban Meta video files: container-level identifier reference for video
- Strip Photo Meta: client-side metadata scrubber for HEIC, JPEG, and PNG
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