Every phone photo carries a hidden record: where it was taken, on what device, sometimes with what settings. Because Partyreel serves originals byte for byte, that record would otherwise travel with every download. So it's removed first, on the phone, before anything is sent.
What's stripped
Every format Partyreel accepts is covered: JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, HEIF, and AVIF photos, and MP4, MOV, and WebM videos. The upload step removes the location and device metadata: GPS coordinates, camera and phone model, the embedded notes and tags most apps write. The metadata is cut out or blanked without re-saving the file, so the picture itself is untouched, at full quality, and the color profile is kept. Orientation is preserved so nothing ends up sideways. So is the date and time it was taken, when the camera recorded them (never the place), so the album can put the night in order and a saved photo lands on the right day in your library.
Because it happens in the browser before upload, the file Partyreel stores never had the data, which also means the backup copies are clean.
What isn't
A file that's damaged, or built in a way the uploader can't read safely, uploads exactly as it is rather than risk breaking it, because a corrupted photo is worse than the metadata. If location matters for one photo, your phone can drop it as you share: on an iPhone, tap Options at the top of the share sheet and turn off Location.
In one sentence: GPS location metadata is stripped from uploads, in every format Partyreel accepts.
Downloads
What you download is what was stored, so a downloaded photo or video carries no location and no device, only when it was taken.
Nothing is analyzed
Partyreel doesn't keep or send the metadata it removes, doesn't run face recognition, and doesn't scan photo content. What it does keep, per upload, is in your data and deleting your account.
For hosts
This applies to your own uploads too, including a photographer's batch you add yourself. Anything you'd want kept, like camera settings for a portfolio, is gone from the stored copy; keep your own originals.