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GeoProof

How to prove when and where a photo was taken

No app turns a photo into legal proof, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What you can collect is strong evidence: a visible stamp with time, coordinates and accuracy, GPS data inside the original, and a check for whether the file changed after capture. GeoProof records all three; check the last one in the photo's Verification card.

3 min read · Updated 2026-09-16

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Why an ordinary photo is weak evidence

The date and place of a normal photo live in its metadata, nowhere the reader can see. That data can be edited with free tools, most chat apps strip it on the way through, and nothing on the image itself tells anyone it was ever there. If a damage claim, a delivery dispute or a deposit return hangs on a photo, that is not enough.

How to check when a photo was taken on iPhone

For an ordinary photo, open it in the Photos app and swipe up or tap the info button: you see the date, time and a small map if location was saved. For a photo taken with GeoProof, open it in the app and look at Location data and Verification.

What GeoProof records at the moment of capture

  • The live stamp: date and time, coordinates, address, accuracy and any other template fields, burned into every exported copy and PDF.
  • Standard GPS data inside the original JPEG: latitude, longitude, altitude, direction, speed, horizontal error and UTC GPS time.
  • A digital signature made on your device from the image bytes, the latitude, longitude and altitude, the capture time and the photo's ID.

How to verify a photo in GeoProof

  1. Open the photo from its project, from Search or from the Map.
  2. Scroll to the Verification card.
  3. Verified — unaltered since capture means the image and its GPS and time fields match what was signed.
  4. Could not verify — image data has changed since capture means something in the file or those fields changed afterwards.
  5. In a PDF report, each photo line shows ✓ Verified capture or ⚠ Verification failed.

What the check covers and what it can't

Scope of GeoProof's capture signature
CoveredNot covered
Image file bytesAddress, heading, speed, accuracy, caption
Latitude, longitude, altitudeA spoofed GPS or a phone clock set wrong
Capture timeExported JPEGs and PDFs on their own (the check runs inside GeoProof)
Photo IDPhotos imported from the library (never signed)

Plainly: GeoProof can show a file was not changed after it signed it on that device. It cannot show the phone was telling the truth at the moment of capture. Say exactly that, in those words, when handing a report to a client — overselling it is the fastest way to lose an argument later.

How to collect photos that will hold up

  1. Before shooting, wait until the GPS badge shows a small ± figure and include GPS accuracy in the template so the reader can judge the position.
  2. For damage claims, create a project with type Insurance. Its template adds project name, address and a Claim #: line.
  3. Take a wide shot that shows the surroundings, then close-ups of each detail.
  4. Caption each photo with what it shows, in plain facts.
  5. Keep the originals inside GeoProof; do not delete the app. Hand over the PDF report, and with Pro the .geoproof bundle, which carries the originals and signatures so another GeoProof user can re-check them.

Questions and answers

Is a photo with a GPS stamp admissible evidence?
That depends on who reviews it and under which rules. A stamp adds readable time and place, but the reviewer decides whether to accept it.
Can GeoProof detect an edited photo?
It detects changes to a photo captured in GeoProof, or to its GPS and time fields, after capture. It checks inside the app only, not arbitrary files from elsewhere.
Can someone fake the GPS in GeoProof?
GeoProof records what iOS reports and cannot detect a spoofed location or a wrong clock. That is why accuracy and context shots matter.
Does the time stamp use the shutter moment?
The photo's record and signature use the capture time. The printed overlay time comes from the latest GPS fix, which can be slightly earlier if you have not moved for a while.

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