diff --git a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/CommonsApplication.java b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/CommonsApplication.java
index 3c9398babd..d6a3d978a5 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/CommonsApplication.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/CommonsApplication.java
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@
 import org.wikipedia.language.AppLanguageLookUpTable;
 
 import java.io.File;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 import javax.inject.Inject;
 import javax.inject.Named;
@@ -43,6 +45,7 @@
 import fr.free.nrw.commons.kvstore.JsonKvStore;
 import fr.free.nrw.commons.logging.FileLoggingTree;
 import fr.free.nrw.commons.logging.LogUtils;
+import fr.free.nrw.commons.settings.Prefs;
 import fr.free.nrw.commons.upload.FileUtils;
 import fr.free.nrw.commons.utils.ConfigUtils;
 import io.reactivex.android.schedulers.AndroidSchedulers;
@@ -133,6 +136,16 @@ public void onCreate() {
 
         initTimber();
 
+
+        if (!defaultPrefs.getBoolean("has_user_manually_removed_location")) {
+            Set<String> defaultExifTagsSet = defaultPrefs.getStringSet(Prefs.MANAGED_EXIF_TAGS);
+            if (null == defaultExifTagsSet) {
+                defaultExifTagsSet = new HashSet<>();
+            }
+            defaultExifTagsSet.add(getString(R.string.exif_tag_location));
+            defaultPrefs.putStringSet(Prefs.MANAGED_EXIF_TAGS, defaultExifTagsSet);
+        }
+
 //        Set DownsampleEnabled to True to downsample the image in case it's heavy
         ImagePipelineConfig config = ImagePipelineConfig.newBuilder(this)
                 .setDownsampleEnabled(true)
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/kvstore/BasicKvStore.java b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/kvstore/BasicKvStore.java
index ce7649e352..6901945891 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/kvstore/BasicKvStore.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/kvstore/BasicKvStore.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import androidx.annotation.Nullable;
 
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 
@@ -203,4 +204,11 @@ public void unregisterChangeListener(SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeL
         _store.unregisterOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(l);
     }
 
+    public Set<String> getStringSet(String key){
+        return _store.getStringSet(key, new HashSet<>());
+    }
+
+    public void putStringSet(String key,Set<String> value){
+        _store.edit().putStringSet(key,value).apply();
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/settings/Prefs.java b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/settings/Prefs.java
index 41889e3dbe..b686e18dbc 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/settings/Prefs.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/settings/Prefs.java
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ public class Prefs {
     public static final String DEFAULT_LICENSE = "defaultLicense";
     public static final String UPLOADS_SHOWING = "uploadsshowing";
     public static final String IS_CONTRIBUTION_COUNT_CHANGED = "ccontributionCountChanged";
-    public static final String MANAGED_EXIF_TAGS = "managedExifTags";
+    public static final String MANAGED_EXIF_TAGS = "managed_exif_tags";
     public static final String KEY_LANGUAGE_VALUE = "languageDescription";
 
     public static class Licenses {
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/settings/SettingsFragment.java b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/settings/SettingsFragment.java
index 176697f9ae..9971c7175c 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/settings/SettingsFragment.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/settings/SettingsFragment.java
@@ -14,14 +14,18 @@
 import android.text.Editable;
 import android.text.TextWatcher;
 
+import com.google.gson.reflect.TypeToken;
 import com.karumi.dexter.Dexter;
 import com.karumi.dexter.listener.PermissionGrantedResponse;
 import com.karumi.dexter.listener.single.BasePermissionListener;
 
+import java.lang.reflect.Type;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 import javax.inject.Inject;
 import javax.inject.Named;
@@ -70,10 +74,12 @@ public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
             return true;
         });
 
-        MultiSelectListPreference multiSelectListPref = (MultiSelectListPreference) findPreference("manageExifTags");
+        MultiSelectListPreference multiSelectListPref = (MultiSelectListPreference) findPreference(Prefs.MANAGED_EXIF_TAGS);
         if (multiSelectListPref != null) {
             multiSelectListPref.setOnPreferenceChangeListener((preference, newValue) -> {
-                defaultKvStore.putJson(Prefs.MANAGED_EXIF_TAGS, newValue);
+                if (newValue instanceof HashSet && !((HashSet) newValue).contains(getString(R.string.exif_tag_location))) {
+                    defaultKvStore.putBoolean("has_user_manually_removed_location", true);
+                }
                 return true;
             });
         }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/upload/FileProcessor.java b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/upload/FileProcessor.java
index e9922332c4..edf539627a 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/upload/FileProcessor.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/upload/FileProcessor.java
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ GPSExtractor processFileCoordinates(SimilarImageInterface similarImageInterface,
      */
     private Set<String> getExifTagsToRedact(Context context) {
         Type setType = new TypeToken<Set<String>>() {}.getType();
-        Set<String> prefManageEXIFTags = defaultKvStore.getJson(Prefs.MANAGED_EXIF_TAGS, setType);
+        Set<String> prefManageEXIFTags = defaultKvStore.getStringSet(Prefs.MANAGED_EXIF_TAGS);
 
         Set<String> redactTags = new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList(
                 context.getResources().getStringArray(R.array.pref_exifTag_values)));
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/xml/preferences.xml b/app/src/main/res/xml/preferences.xml
index cdeaa83664..e689f709b9 100644
--- a/app/src/main/res/xml/preferences.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/res/xml/preferences.xml
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
         <fr.free.nrw.commons.ui.LongTitlePreferences.LongTitleMultiSelectListPreference
             android:entries="@array/pref_exifTag_entries"
             android:entryValues="@array/pref_exifTag_values"
-            android:key="manageExifTags"
+            android:key="managed_exif_tags"
             android:title="@string/manage_exif_tags"
             android:summary="@string/manage_exif_tags_summary"/>