P: Add Location and Sensitive Location keyword types with hierarchical export privacy controls

Summary

Lightroom Classic already provides special handling for Person keywords and allows GPS/location metadata to be removed during export. However, location information can also be stored in hierarchical keywords, and there is currently no way to identify these keywords as location information or selectively prevent sensitive locations from being exported.

I would like Lightroom Classic to support two additional keyword classifications:

• Location
• Sensitive Location

These classifications should integrate with Lightroom's hierarchical keyword system and export options.

Why this is needed

Photographers often need to retain precise location information in their catalogue while deliberately withholding some or all of that information from exported images.

Typical use cases include:

• protecting sensitive natural areas and habitats;
• protecting locations of endangered or vulnerable species;
• avoiding disclosure of fragile archaeological or cultural sites;
• locations on private or restricted property;
• locations that photographers have agreed with guides, landowners or local communities not to disclose;
• locations that require particular skills, equipment or local knowledge to reach safely.

Removing GPS metadata alone does not solve this problem if the precise location is also contained in exported keywords.

Keyword types

Keywords should be able to be classified as:

Location
A keyword containing geographical information.

Sensitive Location
A location keyword containing geographical information that should be protected from publication.

A Sensitive Location is therefore always also a Location.

Hierarchical inheritance

The keyword types should respect Lightroom's keyword hierarchy.

The following rules would provide predictable behaviour:

• A keyword without a location classification may contain normal keywords, Person keywords, Location keywords or Sensitive Location keywords.
• A Location keyword may contain Location or Sensitive Location keywords.
• A Sensitive Location keyword may contain only Sensitive Location keywords.
• Sensitive Location status should automatically be inherited by all location keywords below it.

For example:

Bulgaria                 [Location]
└── Smolyan Province     [Location]
    └── Smolyan          [Location]
        └── Trigrad      [Sensitive Location]

If Trigrad is sensitive, an export could retain Bulgaria, Smolyan Province and Smolyan while withholding Trigrad.

However, if Smolyan Province itself were marked as Sensitive Location:

Bulgaria                 [Location]
└── Smolyan Province     [Sensitive Location]
    └── Smolyan          [Sensitive Location – inherited]
        └── Trigrad      [Sensitive Location – inherited]

all locations below Smolyan Province would automatically be protected as well.

A child location should not be allowed to override an inherited Sensitive Location status, since a more precise location cannot logically be less sensitive than its protected parent.

Export options

The existing location privacy options could be expanded to provide four levels:

When Remove sensitive location information is selected, GPS and other structured metadata capable of revealing the precise location should also be removed.

Otherwise Lightroom could remove the sensitive keyword while leaving the exact coordinates embedded in the exported file.

The privacy setting should also override the existing keyword export settings, including Export Containing Keywords and Export Synonyms. Synonyms belonging to a Sensitive Location must not accidentally reveal the protected location.

Visual identification in the Keyword List

Location information should also be immediately recognisable in the Keyword List.

For example:

• a small location/home icon could identify Location keywords;
• a small flower/protection icon could identify Sensitive Location keywords.

Inherited Sensitive Location status could use a slightly different visual treatment from explicitly assigned status.

A tooltip could provide additional information such as:

Sensitive Location — inherited from Smolyan Province

The exact icons are of course a UI design decision; the important point is that Location and Sensitive Location keywords should be visually distinguishable without opening each keyword's settings.

Filtering and Smart Collections

Ideally, Location and Sensitive Location classifications should also be available for filtering and Smart Collections.

This would make it possible to find, for example:

all photographs containing Sensitive Location information

before publishing, sharing or delivering images.

Benefit

This would allow photographers to maintain complete and accurate geographical information inside their Lightroom catalogue while controlling the level of location detail that leaves the catalogue during export.

The workflow would remain non-destructive: no location information would need to be deleted from the catalogue simply to prevent its accidental publication.

It would be particularly useful for landscape, nature, wildlife, conservation, travel and documentary photographers.