Guides: what a photo file can and can't tell you

• How to tell if a photo was edited with ChatGPT or another AI tool

  What a photo file can and can't tell you about AI editing. How Content Credentials work, why missing evidence isn't proof, and how to check a photo free.

• What Content Credentials (C2PA) prove, and what they don't

  Content Credentials can show who signed an image's history and that it still matches the file. They can't show the scene is true. A plain guide.

• Why a photo from WhatsApp or Facebook shows signs of processing (and why that isn't proof of editing)

  Messaging and social apps re-encode photos and strip metadata. That shows the file was processed, not that anyone edited the picture. Here's why.

• Proposed Federal Rule of Evidence 707: what it means for photos and AI analysis

  Proposed FRE 707 would hold machine-generated evidence to the Rule 702 reliability standard. Where it stands in 2026, and what it means for photo analysis tools.

• Authenticating photos under Federal Rule of Evidence 901 when AI edits are easy

  How Rule 901 authentication works for digital photos, which parts of a photo file help (hashes, Content Credentials, metadata), and what to do when someone claims a deepfake.

• How to check insurance claim photos for AI edits and reused images

  A practical guide for adjusters: what a claim photo file can show about AI editing, reuse and timing, what it can't, and how to get photos you can rely on.

• Move-out photos for security deposit disputes: how to make them hold up

  For landlords, property managers and tenants: how to take, collect and keep move-in and move-out photos so they hold up in a deposit dispute or small claims court.

• Verifying collateral and site inspection photos for lenders

  Borrower-supplied photos of equipment, vehicles, crops and property are easy to reuse or edit with AI. What a photo file can show lenders, and how to collect photos that hold up.

• Equipment and vehicle rental photos: proving condition at pickup and return

  How rental operators and renters can take and keep pickup and return photos that settle damage disputes, and what a photo file can and can't prove.

• Verifying user-submitted photos: what the file can tell a newsroom

  A file-level checklist for journalists and fact-checkers: Content Credentials, metadata and processing signs, what each establishes, and why provenance isn't the truth of the scene.

• What photo metadata (EXIF) can and can't prove

  Camera make, capture time, GPS and software tags: what each EXIF field supports, how easily it changes, and why missing metadata isn't evidence of editing.

• How to ask someone for the original photo, not a screenshot

  Why screenshots and texted photos lose their evidence, the right way to ask for originals, and how a secure request link collects photos with their evidence intact.