diff --git a/install/data/defaults.json b/install/data/defaults.json
index b2bcbec5af..70dcaf6d75 100644
--- a/install/data/defaults.json
+++ b/install/data/defaults.json
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
     "allowUserHomePage": 1,
     "allowMultipleBadges": 0,
     "maximumFileSize": 2048,
+    "stripEXIFData": 1,
     "resizeImageWidthThreshold": 2000,
     "resizeImageWidth": 760,
     "rejectImageWidth": 5000,
diff --git a/public/language/en-GB/admin/settings/uploads.json b/public/language/en-GB/admin/settings/uploads.json
index 10e53d7e32..34da585485 100644
--- a/public/language/en-GB/admin/settings/uploads.json
+++ b/public/language/en-GB/admin/settings/uploads.json
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 	"posts": "Posts",
 	"allow-files": "Allow users to upload regular files",
 	"private": "Make uploaded files private",
+	"strip-exif-data": "Strip EXIF Data",
 	"private-extensions": "File extensions to make private",
 	"private-uploads-extensions-help": "Enter comma-separated list of file extensions to make private here (e.g. <code>pdf,xls,doc</code>). An empty list means all files are private.",
 	"resize-image-width-threshold": "Resize images if they are wider than specified width",
diff --git a/src/image.js b/src/image.js
index af61621c23..791c37c94a 100644
--- a/src/image.js
+++ b/src/image.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ var winston = require('winston');
 
 var file = require('./file');
 var plugins = require('./plugins');
+var meta = require('./meta');
 
 var image = module.exports;
 
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ image.size = function (path, callback) {
 };
 
 image.stripEXIF = function (path, callback) {
-	if (path.endsWith('.gif')) {
+	if (!meta.config.stripEXIFData || path.endsWith('.gif')) {
 		return setImmediate(callback);
 	}
 	async.waterfall([
diff --git a/src/views/admin/settings/uploads.tpl b/src/views/admin/settings/uploads.tpl
index cc4a1ab07c..3d63f999a1 100644
--- a/src/views/admin/settings/uploads.tpl
+++ b/src/views/admin/settings/uploads.tpl
@@ -20,6 +20,13 @@
 				</label>
 			</div>
 
+			<div class="checkbox">
+				<label class="mdl-switch mdl-js-switch mdl-js-ripple-effect">
+					<input class="mdl-switch__input" type="checkbox" data-field="stripEXIFData">
+					<span class="mdl-switch__label"><strong>[[admin/settings/uploads:strip-exif-data]]</strong></span>
+				</label>
+			</div>
+
 			<div class="form-group">
 				<label for="privateUploadsExtensions">[[admin/settings/uploads:private-extensions]]</label>
 				<input type="text" class="form-control" value="" data-field="privateUploadsExtensions" placeholder="">