<s>
Metadata	B-Application
removal	I-Application
tool	I-Application
or	O
metadata	B-Application
scrubber	I-Application
is	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
privacy	B-Application
software	I-Application
built	O
to	O
protect	O
the	O
privacy	O
of	O
its	O
users	O
by	O
removing	O
potentially	O
privacy-compromising	O
metadata	O
from	O
files	O
before	O
they	O
are	O
shared	O
with	O
others	O
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
by	O
sending	O
them	O
as	O
e-mail	O
attachments	O
or	O
by	O
posting	O
them	O
on	O
the	O
Web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metadata	O
can	O
be	O
found	O
in	O
many	O
types	O
of	O
files	O
such	O
as	O
documents	O
,	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
,	O
presentations	O
,	O
images	O
,	O
and	O
audio	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
purpose	O
of	O
metadata	B-Application
removal	I-Application
tools	I-Application
is	O
to	O
minimize	O
the	O
risk	O
of	O
such	O
data	O
leakage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
metadata	B-Application
removal	I-Application
tools	I-Application
that	O
exist	O
today	O
can	O
be	O
divided	O
into	O
four	O
groups	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Integral	O
metadata	B-Application
removal	I-Application
tools	I-Application
,	O
which	O
are	O
included	O
in	O
some	O
applications	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
Document	O
Inspector	O
in	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Office	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Batch	O
metadata	B-Application
removal	I-Application
tools	I-Application
,	O
which	O
can	O
process	O
multiple	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
E-mail	O
client	O
add-ins	B-Application
,	O
which	O
are	O
designed	O
to	O
remove	O
metadata	O
from	O
e-mail	O
attachments	O
just	O
before	O
they	O
are	O
sent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
securely	O
delete	O
the	O
metadata	O
of	O
a	O
PDF	B-Application
file	I-Application
,	O
it	O
is	O
important	O
to	O
linearize	O
the	O
PDF	B-Application
file	I-Application
afterwards	O
,	O
otherwise	O
changes	O
are	O
reversible	O
and	O
the	O
metadata	O
can	O
be	O
recovered	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metadata	B-Application
removal	I-Application
tools	I-Application
are	O
also	O
commonly	O
used	O
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
overall	O
sizes	O
of	O
files	O
,	O
particularly	O
image	O
files	O
posted	O
on	O
the	O
Web	O
.	O
</s>
