I have been sent a photo in jpeg format in relation to a damages claim. I suspect that the time and date that the photo was taken may have been altered. Could somebody advise me as to whether there is a way that i could confirm that this has been done? I am aware that there are a number of programs available on the internet that allow a person to alter these properties.
I assume you are refering to the data in the metadata of the JPEG. This often occurs in multiple locations within a JPEG and for the ones I have looked at, all instances are identical they are identical. I doubt it is possible to tell if this date has been changed. Use a hex editor and most data will be very clear.
Sometimes editing a photo may well remove the metadata that is included with most cameras. It may also remove the date altogther.
The only useful, but not conclusive evdience would be to try and obtain copies of photos ealier and later in the series. Camera normally number photos sequentially, and you would expect a later time for each later photo.
If additional information exists, it maybe in the
Most image viewing/editing software will allow the viewing of this. Try IrfanView.
Greetings,
Some other ideas -
1) Is there anything in the photo itself which will help you determine when it was taken? If it is outside, can you determine the angle of the sun to get a rough time of day? If so, does that time of day line up with the metadata information?
2) Can you get access to the original camera that the photo was taken with, or the original computer the photograph was uploaded to? Both of these may have artifacts that will help in your analysis.
-David
Thank you for your responses your feedback has been very helpfull.
The only useful, but not conclusive evdience would be to try and obtain copies of photos ealier and later in the series. Camera normally number photos sequentially, and you would expect a later time for each later photo.
An example of why this is not conclusive can be seen in the behavior of some cameras. When some cameras have the photos downloaded, they will restart numbering depending on how the photos are retrieved. My Polaroid digital does this.