User Generated Content Verification Links

Websites available for verification of photos (via VerificationHandbook.com)

Is a particular image a real depiction of what is happening? Has the image been copyrighted? Is it available for use?

Findexif.com: another tool that can be used to reveal EXIF information.

  1. Copy and paste photo URL into findexif.comor Jeffre's Exif viewer to determine if photo is copyrighted.
  2. If photo is public domain (Creative Commons), email photographer to verify 1) they took the photo, 2) photo is public domain, 3) whether photo was altered, and 4) requesting permission to use photo BEFORE using photo.
  3. If photo is copyrighted and is necessary to use:  email photographer to verify 1) they took the photo, 2) whether photo was altered and 3) get permission to use photo BEFORE using photo.
  4. If photos are obtained from User Generated Content (Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram), you must verify the source and reliability of the image using websites below: Foto Forensics, TinEye.
  5. Retain all emails for verification processes in case someone challenges later.

Foto Forensics: this website uses error level analysis (ELA) to indicate parts of an image that may have been altered. ELA looks for differences in quality levels in the image, highlighting where alterations may have been made.

Google Search by Image: by uploading or entering the URL for an image, users can find content such as related or similar images, websites and other pages using the specific image.

If you go to http://images.google.com you can either upload or paste the image URL into the search field and hopefully you'll be able to find if there are any other copies of the images online.  it'snot a guaranteed way to see if it was lifted/stolen.

Jeffreys Exif Viewer: an online tool that reveals the Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) information of a digital photo, which includes date and time, camera settings and, in some cases GPS location.

JPEGSnoop: a free Windows-only application that can detect whether an image has been edited. Despite its name it can open AVI, DNG, PDF, THM and embedded JPEG files. It also retrieves metadata including: date, camera type, lens settings, etc.

TinEye: a reverse image search engine that connects images to their creators by allowing users to find out where an image originated, how it is used, whether modified versions exist and if there are higher resolution copies.